This March, you almost need a bracket to keep up with recent personnel changes in the state’s judicial branch. Not only were a handful of new appellate judges elected to office in 2018, but, just in the last month, the governor appointed a new chief justice and announced plans to appoint a sitting court of appeals judge to fill the associate justice seat she vacated. In the same time frame, the General Assembly passed legislation to prevent the departure of a sitting court of appeals judge from reducing the size of that court. Having trouble keeping up? This post will review recent events impacting the composition of the state’s appellate courts and judicial branch leadership and preview potential changes to come. North Carolina Supreme Court. Mark Martin was elected as Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court in November 2014. He retired in February to become the Dean of Regent University’s School of Law, creating a vacancy to be filled by gubernatorial appointment. Governor Roy Cooper selected then-Associate Justice Cheri Beasley to fill the vacancy. Chief Justice Beasley was sworn in March 7, 2019 and will hold that office until January 1, 2021. In 2020, there will be an election for an eight-year-term as chief justice. The appointment of Chief Justice Beasley left her associate justice seat vacant, and Governor Cooper has appointed Court of Appeals Judge Mark Davis to fill that position. Davis will be sworn in next month and, like the chief justice, will hold that position until [...]
Faculty Coordinators
