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Hello readers, I’m back after taking a few days off while my father and his dog visited. It came at a great time when there were no public meetings scheduled. Much of it was spent enjoying time with my brother, Laddie, my parents’ Scottish Terrier. My dog, Cooper, whom I’ve now had just over a year, had a great time with him. I occasionally shared Facebook posts that captured my interest and that I found newsworthy. I also saw Commissioner Donnie Haulk’s recent videos, which prompted this edition of Cops & Congress.
RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. — As Rutherford County leaders work through a challenging budget season, one commissioner is taking taxpayers behind the scenes—literally—on one of the county’s most costly and complicated responsibilities: The detention center.
Standing inside the Rutherford County Jail, Commissioner Donnie Haulk doesn’t mince words in a two-part video originally published to his Facebook page (part 1 / part 2). “We’re in budget season,” Haulk said. “I wanted to shoot a video talking about budget drivers for the county,” noting that the jail sits in plain sight of the courthouse on North Main Street, but most people have never seen inside. I combined both videos to share here at Cops & Congress.
He was joined by Sheriff Aaron Ellenburg and Corporal Bryan Smith. Ellenburg is now in his third year leading the department, having been sworn into office in December 2022. Haulk reflects on how Ellenburg’s early years in office were marked by transition: “Your first two seasons were rough… You wanted to make changes right away and get things going,” Haulk said. “You’ve done that, and now we are seeing… It’s positive to me. And it’s looking good.”
But the jail remains a key challenge. “This is one area that’s one of the toughest areas I think you have to deal with,” Haulk added. Sheriff Ellenburg agreed: “It is. It’s very trying, you know, for us—but, you know, as it is across the state. But this is a very important part of the sheriff’s office and for the county. We have to really pay a lot of focus in this area because this is where everybody comes that’s been arrested here in Rutherford County”.
Ellenburg explains that all inmates are held pretrial, some for more than a year while they await their court dates. “Everybody here is pretrial… They’ve been people housed here for years waiting for their day in court,” he said.
The cost of housing inmates is a major burden. Currently, it’s $45 per day per inmate. But if the jail runs out of beds—particularly for women—the price jumps. “We can only house 29 females,” Ellenburg said. “We try to stay around 80 percent occupancy” to avoid crowding and maintain emergency availability. When women have to be transferred to other counties, the cost jumps to $65 per day.
Women started to be moved out in 2023 following a jail inspection. The current jail design capacity is 179 male beds and 29 female beds with a total design capacity of 208 beds, according to public records.
The sheriff also emphasized how aging infrastructure complicates gender separation. “The old portion of the jail where the females are housed was built in the early ’70s,” he said, adding that safety protocols prevent walking female inmates through male housing units—even if there are open beds.
State inspection documents say the detention center has been housing inmates since 1975. According to published reports, the expanded tower section, which houses the men, was built in the early 1990s. County property records show the deed was signed in 1992.
The NC legislature awarded the county $10M for a new jail. Last year, county commissioners heard a presentation from a consultant, Moseley Architects, outlining a plan for a new jail. I exclusively obtained the space needs study report from a public records request. The full report was not included in any of the official meeting minutes. County commissioners did not vote to move it forward at the time. Jumping ahead to today, there are now two new commissioners from the last election: Donnie Haulk and Hunter Haynes. They were sworn into office in December, joining Chairman Bryan King, Vice Chair Alan Toney and Mike Benfield. (Click here to read my previous reporting for more details).
In 2024, the jail processed about 1,266 female inmates and 2,016 males, Haulk and Ellenburg said. That growing number of women in custody is stretching a facility that was not built with today’s demographics in mind. According to the report from Moseley there were 4,404 inmates in 2022.
“There’s a lot of traffic flow through this jail on a daily basis,” Ellenburg said. The facility doesn’t just serve the county sheriff’s office—it holds individuals arrested by departments across the region, including Forest City, Spindale, and Lake Lure.
As Commissioner Haulk and Sheriff Ellenburg spotlight the jail in this candid walk-through, the message is clear: a functional detention center is essential to community safety, but it’s also a massive budget driver—one the public should understand, especially now.
Opinion & Analysis
🏛️ Cops & Congress Commentary: Three Things to Watch Inside Rutherford County’s Jail Budget
As Commissioner Donnie Haulk and Sheriff Aaron Ellenburg gave us a rare inside look at the Rutherford County Jail, they weren’t just walking through cell blocks—they were walking us into one of the most pressing public safety and budget dilemmas facing counties across North Carolina. Here are three things I’m watching:
1. The Hidden Cost of Pretrial Detention
Sheriff Ellenburg made it plain: “Everybody here is pretrial.” That means taxpayers are footing the bill—$45 a day—for individuals who have not been convicted of any crime. Some wait more than a year to see a judge. Why? Court backlogs, staffing shortages, and procedural delays. This system doesn’t just strain the jail; it raises constitutional questions. Pretrial detention is supposed to ensure appearance in court, not serve as punishment before trial. Legislators in Raleigh should take a hard look at this.
2. The 29-Bed Problem
The jail can only house 29 women. When that number’s exceeded, the cost of housing spikes to $65 per day per person to send them elsewhere. This isn’t just a budget problem—it’s a policy failure. As the female jail population grows, our infrastructure hasn’t kept up. The old 1970s-era layout wasn’t built for modern inmate demographics or for the legal and ethical requirements of gender separation. Haulk and Ellenburg are right to spotlight it—but the solution may require state-level grants, not just county dollars.
3. Local Jail, Regional Load
Rutherford’s detention center holds detainees from every town in the county: Forest City, Spindale, Rutherfordton, Ellenboro, Bostic, Lake Lure, and more. “There’s a lot of traffic flow through this jail on a daily basis,” Ellenburg said. If other police departments use the facility, should they also help pay for future expansions or upgrades? And does the public know how much of the jail’s daily load comes from outside the sheriff’s office arrests? Transparency and regional planning could be key to long-term sustainability.
📌 BOTTOM LINE:
Commissioner Haulk is doing what more public officials should—pulling back the curtain. Voters deserve to understand not just how much the jail costs, but why. The question now: Will county leaders address these warning signs before budget season—or will taxpayers be left holding the bag? I’ll be watching what the county manager recommends closely, and ultimately what Haulk and other commissioners decide.
Thank you for reading and watching. Learn more about this newsletter and my background. I am guided by the Society for Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics. Follow me on X (Twitter), Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Send constructive criticism, fan mail and tips with public documents for future stories: CopsandCongress@gmail.com.
