Governor appoints new WNC judge
Bill Jones.
File photo
Haywood County attorney Bill Jones has been appointed to fill a vacant District Court seat in the judicial district made up of the state’s seven westernmost counties. The appointment was announced late last week in a press release sent out by Gov. Josh Stein’s office.
“Bill brings decades of experience as a solo practitioner and Assistant District Attorney, giving him the record to succeed in this role,” Stein said in the release. “As a longtime resident of Judicial District 43, he’s the right person for the job, and I look forward to his service on the District Court.”
Jones grew up in Sylva and received his bachelor’s degree from Western Carolina University and his law degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Jones served as an assistant district attorney from 1998 to 2003 before moving into domestic and criminal law, through which he represented defendants in a number of higher profile cases.
Prior to the governor’s decision to appoint Jones to the bench, the bar — made of up of licensed attorneys in the judicial district — got together on Dec. 10 of last year and voted on recommendations to send to Raleigh for consideration. Jones won that vote by a large margin and said that at that point he expected to receive the appointment based on how that process had previously played out. Following the vote, he stopped taking new clients.
“I told all my clients this was on the horizon,” he told The Smoky Mountain News.
Stein’s decision to appoint Jones comes following former Chief District Court Judge Roy Wijewickrama’s appointment to Superior Court to fill the vacancy created when Bradley B. Letts left the bench to become the Chief Justice of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Supreme Court.
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There have also been changes on the district court bench in the last year. Last summer, Kristina Earwood abruptly left the bench due to the sudden onset of a serious health condition. Her seat was filled by Justin Greene, who was sworn in late last year. In addition, because Sellers vacated her District Court seat to gain the superior court appointment, her seat was filled last month by Kristy Parton. Finally, a Republican Primary Election held earlier this year determined that Macon County’s Virginia Hornsby will join the bench to fill a new judicial position created in last year’s state budget.
Now that Jones has been appointed, because Wijewickrama was the Chief District Court judge, North Carolina’s Chief Supreme Court Justice, Paul Newby, will appoint one of the sitting district court judges to become the chief district court judge, a role that like senior resident superior court judge comes with a number of administrative and policy-setting duties that have an effect on courts across the judicial district.
Following the announcement of his appointment, Jones recalled that when he was a young attorney, the judges on the district court bench at that time — Richie Holt, Steven J. Bryant, Danny Davis and John Snow — helped him grow in his trade by discussing cases with him after their conclusion and offering notes on what could have made him more effective in his arguments.
Jones said that’s a legacy he hopes to uphold.
“Western North Carolina has been known for having one of the best District Court benches in the state,” he said. “I’ve been doing this 20-some years, and I’ve worked hard and diligently. It means a lot to me to uphold this legacy and continue that mentorship and do a good job for the people of this district.”
Jones will be sworn in at 2 p.m. on March 3 at the Haywood County Courthouse in Waynesville.
