Governor given names of nominees to assume District Court judgeship
Published 8:00 pm Friday, March 16, 2018
Gov. Roy Cooper has received a list of four nominees, one of which could assume the District Court seat now vacant as a result of Judge Michael A. Paul’s retirement last month.
Under state law, Cooper has the authority to appointment someone to the seat held by Paul. The person the governor appoints would complete Paul’s unexpired four-year term, which ends in 2020. That person would have to file as a judicial candidate in 2020 to retain the seat for another four-year term.
Paul was the chief district court judge in the 2nd Judicial District, which includes Beaufort, Martin, Washington, Hyde and Tyrrell counties. Regina Parker, a long-serving District Court judge, replaced Paul as the 2nd Judicial District’s chief district court judge March 1. She has seniority over Chris McLendon and Darrell B. Cayton Jr., the district’s other District Court judges. North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin announced her appointment Feb. 1.
The 2nd Judicial District Bar met about two weeks ago and voted on four nominees (state law allows for five nominees) for submission to the governor. Those nominees include Washington attorneys M. Jason Williams, Keith Mason and Watsi Sutton and Raye Cameron, an assistant district attorney in the 2nd Judicial District, according to Herman Gaskins Jr., a Washington attorney.
“Generally, the governor is advised of what the vote is, who the leading vote-getters are and what the specific voting tallies are,” Gaskins said. “The governor then will make the appointment of who the new judge will be. The governor is not bound by list that the bar sends him. This is a change from the old law where the governor was bound to appoint from the list, but the Republicans changed the law several years ago. Gov. Cooper, to this date, has always appointed from the list, but he’s not required by law to do it.”
Gaskins said the bar voted on the four people who nominated themselves. The vote totals were Williams, 33 votes; Mason, 27 votes; Cameron, 22 votes and Sutton, 13 votes. “That information was transmitted to the governor approximately two weeks ago,” Gaskins said. “The governor has no time table for his appointment.”
In the 2nd Judicial District, two judges were initially appointed: Chief Judge Hallet Ward and Judge Charles Manning. In 50 years, only six more District Court judges — Samuel Grimes, James Hardison, Darrell Cayton, Chris McLendon, Paul and Parker — have served in the district.