diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Editors/ContentController.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Editors/ContentController.cs
index 7b5b728e7d..de2481f090 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Editors/ContentController.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Editors/ContentController.cs
@@ -25,12 +25,10 @@ using Umbraco.Core.Persistence.Querying;
 using Umbraco.Web.PublishedCache;
 using Umbraco.Core.Events;
 using Umbraco.Core.Models.Validation;
-using Umbraco.Web.Models;
-using Umbraco.Web.WebServices;
 using Umbraco.Web._Legacy.Actions;
 using Constants = Umbraco.Core.Constants;
-using ContentVariation = Umbraco.Core.Models.ContentVariation;
 using Language = Umbraco.Web.Models.ContentEditing.Language;
+using SortNode = Umbraco.Web.Models.ContentEditing.SortNode;
 
 namespace Umbraco.Web.Editors
 {
@@ -957,6 +955,35 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Editors
             return Request.CreateNotificationSuccessResponse(Services.TextService.Localize("defaultdialogs/recycleBinIsEmpty"));
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets child nodes of the current node (parentId) to be sorted
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="parentId">The current node in which to sort its children</param>
+        /// <returns></returns>
+        [HttpGet]
+        public SortNode GetContentSortOrder(int parentId)
+        {
+            var nodes = new List<SortNode>();
+            var parent = new SortNode { Id = parentId };
+
+            var entityService = Services.EntityService;
+
+            // Root node
+            if (parentId == -1)
+            {
+                var rootContent = entityService.GetRootEntities(UmbracoObjectTypes.Document);
+                nodes.AddRange(rootContent.Select(content => new SortNode(content.Id, content.SortOrder, content.Name, content.CreateDate)));
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                var children = entityService.GetChildren(parentId);
+                nodes.AddRange(children.Select(child => new SortNode(child.Id, child.SortOrder, child.Name, child.CreateDate)));
+            }
+
+            parent.SortNodes = nodes.ToArray();
+            return parent;
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Change the sort order for content
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/ContentEditing/SortNode.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/ContentEditing/SortNode.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8b53d38808
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/ContentEditing/SortNode.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+using System;
+
+namespace Umbraco.Web.Models.ContentEditing
+{
+    [Serializable]
+    public class SortNode
+    {
+        public int Id { get; set; }
+        public int SortOrder { get; set; }
+        public string Name { get; set; }
+        public DateTime CreateDate { get; set; }
+        public SortNode[] SortNodes { get; set; }
+
+        public SortNode()
+        {
+        }
+
+        public SortNode(int id, int sortOrder, string name, DateTime createDate)
+        {
+            Id = Id;
+            SortOrder = sortOrder;
+            Name = name;
+            CreateDate = createDate;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Umbraco.Web.csproj b/src/Umbraco.Web/Umbraco.Web.csproj
index 427c7fdd66..20dca7ee54 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Umbraco.Web.csproj
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Umbraco.Web.csproj
@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@
     <Compile Include="Models\ContentEditing\Permission.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\ContentEditing\PostedFolder.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\ContentEditing\SnippetDisplay.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Models\ContentEditing\SortNode.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\ContentEditing\TemplateDisplay.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\ContentEditing\TreeSearchResult.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\ContentEditing\UserDisplay.cs" />