The City of Asheboro has announced that Thomas D. Carruthers will become the city’s new city attorney beginning April 6 – bringing more than two decades of legal experience to the growing Randolph County city. That experience includes years advising municipalities across North Carolina and previously serving as city attorney for Greensboro.
Carruthers currently serves as deputy general counsel for the North Carolina League of Municipalities, where he advises local government officials and staff throughout the state on legal, procedural and strategic matters affecting cities and towns.
But soon he’ll be back in a city government job.
Carruthers said Asheboro reached out to him in an unexpected way while he was teaching at a conference.
“I was teaching up in Nashville and their manager came and sat down and said, ‘I need a city attorney,’” Carruthers told the Rhino Times. “And I was like, well, I would be interested, but you need a young city attorney. And he said, ‘No, I need a good city attorney.’”
That conversation started the process that eventually led to Asheboro offering him the job.
Carruthers, who is in his mid-60s, said part of the reason he initially hesitated was because many cities are looking for someone who can stay in the position for decades.
“You want someone who has the potential to stay 20 years,” he said. “Most people don’t do that anymore.”
But Asheboro’s previous city attorney did exactly that.
“Their current attorney was there 25 years,” Carruthers said.
Carruthers will replace longtime Asheboro City Attorney Jeff Sugg, who retired at the end of February after serving that city for more than two decades.
Asheboro Mayor Joey Trogdon said Carruthers stood out among a field of strong candidates.
“The City of Asheboro conducted an exhaustive search with multiple qualified candidates,” Trogdon said in a press release announcing the move. “We are fortunate to find someone with Tom’s experience and training. I feel confident he will work well with our department heads and city manager to take the City of Asheboro to the next level.”
Carruthers said the opportunity to return to working directly with a city government was appealing after several years at the League of Municipalities.
Right now, he said, his job involves working closely with local governments across North Carolina on a wide range of issues.
“I focus on working with local government elected officials,” he said. “And also with the League risk pool services, where I coordinate with management and the defense counsel the League hires to defend the cities of North Carolina.”
That work has given him a statewide perspective on the legal challenges that cities face.
Carruthers’ career in public service spans more than two decades and includes a variety of roles in both government and private practice.
Before joining the League of Municipalities six years ago, Carruthers served as city attorney for Greensboro – North Carolina’s third-largest city – where he oversaw the city’s legal staff, managed outside counsel and advised elected officials and administrators on a wide range of municipal issues.
Those issues included public records law, economic development agreements, contracting, and regulatory compliance.
During his time in Greensboro, Carruthers provided legal support on several major initiatives, including the development of the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts and the creation of the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite.
He also helped develop Greensboro’s public records policy and provided legal guidance during the implementation of body-worn cameras for the Greensboro Police Department.
Carruthers started out his career in private practice and then served as associate sheriff’s attorney for Guilford County and as an assistant city attorney for Greensboro. He has also worked as an assistant district attorney and spent time in private practice.
Those experiences, Carruthers said, gave him a broad view of how government works at the local level.
At the League of Municipalities, he has spent years advising cities across the state as they deal with legal and policy challenges.
Working for Asheboro, he said, will allow him to apply that experience directly inside one city government again.
Carruthers said he’s impressed by what he sees happening in Asheboro.
“This entire community is poised for greater growth and prosperity,” he said. “I’m fortunate to contribute to this journey.”
Carruthers earned his Juris Doctor from Campbell University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Duke University.
An excellent public speaker, he is also regularly invited to speak at programs organized by the UNC School of Government, where he shares his knowledge of municipal law and governance with students and public officials.
Carruthers said he’s eager to start working with Asheboro’s elected officials and staff once he starts the new position in April.
“I am looking forward to the opportunity to join a great City Council, a visionary manager and a dedicated professional team in Asheboro,” he said.
His appointment takes effect April 6.
Carruthers, who had the Rhino Times owner and publisher as his roommate his freshman year at Duke in House P, married well above himself when he landed his wife Elizabeth.
Carruthers freely admits this and he always has a “lucky dog” optimistic philosophy of life and he said that each day he tells himself that he is a lucky dog.
