A former police officer whose disciplinary record was previously spotlighted in The Alamance News is one of four members of Elon’s municipal staff who’ve been suspended, demoted, or dismissed during the past year and a half.
According to the town’s personnel records, Jonathan Montanez-Figueroa, a one-time master police sergeant, was ordered to turn in his badge on September 26, 2024. His termination, moreover, occurred roughly four months after he received a demotion, which later appeared in a roundup of disciplinary actions that the newspaper ran for Elon and other public sector employers.
Montanez-Figueroa’s subsequent termination is, thus, a fitting introduction to the news-paper’s follow-up to that earlier series, which appeared over the course of several weeks during the summer of 2024. Both the newspaper’s original series and its continuation are based on information that The Alamance News has obtained through public records requests to government employers in Alamance County.
Although personnel files are, themselves, exempt from disclosure under North Carolina’s Public Records Law, the law nevertheless obligates state and local governments to provide certain information about their current and past staff members. These disclosable details include the names and ages of employees, as well as their job titles, dates of employment, and salaries. The law also allows requires government employers to release the dates of disciplinary actions such as demotions, suspensions, and dismissals – and in the latter case, an explanation of the lapse or misconduct that ended the staff member’s employment.
In preparation for its latest series, the newspaper has sent formal public records requests to Alamance County and four of its municipalities – namely, Burlington, Graham, Mebane, Elon, and Gibsonville. Gibsonville was the first jurisdiction to respond to the newspaper’s request with a note from town manager Ben Baxley that the town hadn’t issued any demotions, suspensions, or dismissals within the newspaper’s timeframe.
The Alamance News also received a prompt reply from Elon’s town manager Richard Roedner, who passed along information about Montanez-Figueroa’s dismissal, the suspension of a firefighter who has since left Elon’s employ, and the demotions of another firefighter and an additional police officer.
In Montanez-Figueroa’s case, the town has also released a formal termination letter that Elon’s police chief Kelly Blackwelder dispatched on September 26, 2024 to the now 35-year-old former police officer, who had joined Elon’s police force on February 13, 2023. This letter alludes to Montanez-Figueroa’s aforementioned demotion on May 21, 2024 – an event that technically falls outside of the timeframe for the newspaper’s current public records request but which apparently forms the backdrop for his eventual termination.
According to the chief’s letter, Montanez-Figueroa, who had joined the police force on February 13, 2023, was already on probation for his previous misconduct when his behavior “during a dispatched call for service” precipitated his involuntary departure. The letter adds that an investigation into Montanez-Figueroa’s conduct “sustained…numerous policy violations” that apparently occurred during the call.
Blackwelder’s letter goes on to accuse the former police officer of “disparaging remarks or conduct concerning duly constituted authority” that reflected poorly on Elon’s police force. It also faults him for “discourteous, disrespectful, or discriminatory treatment” of another staff member or member of the public, unprofessional interactions with a government official or employee, and for failing to discharge his duties “in a manner that will reflect favorably on the town and its services.”
The chief’s letter concedes that Montanez-Figueroa had tried to explain his “mindset” during the call when he took part in a pre-disciplinary conference ahead of his termination.
“Neither your assertions nor the information you provided are sufficient to refute the finding,” Blackwelder nevertheless adds, “nor do they serve to justify your unprofessional behavior.”
The letter goes on to contend that Montanez-Figueroa’s behavior was of a sort that, under the town’s personnel policy, “no reasonable person should expect to receive prior warnings” to refrain from it.
“However, you received two prior coaching sessions,” the chief continues, “a written reprimand, and a demotion for your conduct over the last year. You are also currently on a 12-month probation as a result of your demotion.”
According to the town’s personnel records, Montanez-Figueroa was making about $66,036 a year before his dismissal.
Another disciplinary action that occurred at the police department concerned Christopher Miles, a 51-year-old master police officer who has been with the police force since April 12, 2021. According to the town’s personnel records, Miles was demoted from the rank of sergeant to master police officer on March 25, 2025 and received a 5-percent cut in his salary, which is now roughly $75,156 a year.
The town’s fire department also issued a demotion earlier this year to 43-year-old Jeffrey Curtis, who had been with the department since April 22, 2010. On October 8, 2025, Curtis saw his rank lowered from captain to lieutenant and his pay pared back by 5 precent. He currently makes about $72,260 a year, according to the town’s personnel records.
Also within the timeframe of the newspaper’s public records request, Elon’s fire department issued a suspension without pay to Thomas Walker, a 30-year-old fire engineer, who had been with the agency since December 26, 2018. Walker’s suspension began on July 10, 2024, according to the town’s personnel records, and on April 25, 2025, he resigned from his post with the fire department. Walker’s salary before his departure had been $57,532 a year.
The Alamance News will continue to run information about disciplinary actions in the public sector as it receives responses to its public records requests from other jurisdictions.
