The North Carolina Supreme Court justices are the seven elected members of the state’s highest court: Chief Justice Paul Newby and Associate Justices Richard Dietz, Trey Allen, Tamara Barringer, Anita Earls, Philip Berger Jr., and Allison Riggs. Five are Republicans and two are Democrats, giving the bench a 5–2 conservative majority as of 2026. Each justice serves an eight-year term, and the full court hears every case together, with four votes needed to decide an outcome.1North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Constitution Article 4 – Section 6
Who Sits on the Court Now
The seven current justices come from a mix of trial advocacy, prosecution, civil rights litigation, legislative service, and lower-court benches.2North Carolina Judicial Branch. Meet the Justices
Chief Justice Paul Newby (R)
Newby was first elected to the court in 2004 and took office in January 2005. He became Chief Justice on January 1, 2021, after defeating the incumbent by 401 votes. Before joining the bench, he worked as an Assistant United States Attorney. He holds a law degree from the University of North Carolina.
Associate Justice Richard Dietz (R)
Dietz joined the Supreme Court in January 2023 after serving on the North Carolina Court of Appeals since 2014. He graduated first in his class from Wake Forest University School of Law and holds a master’s degree from Duke University.
Associate Justice Trey Allen (R)
Allen earned his law degree from UNC and served as a judge advocate in the United States Marine Corps before moving into private practice and government legal work.
Associate Justice Tamara Barringer (R)
Barringer, a UNC School of Law graduate, served in the North Carolina Senate from 2012 to 2018 and chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee. She also taught as a clinical professor at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Associate Justice Anita Earls (D)
Earls is a Yale Law School graduate who spent three decades litigating civil rights cases. She founded the Southern Coalition for Social Justice in Durham before joining the court in January 2019. Her seat is up for election in 2026.
Associate Justice Philip Berger Jr. (R)
Berger graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law and served as the elected district attorney in North Carolina’s 17A Prosecutorial District, where he led a collaboration with federal law enforcement focused on violent crime.
Associate Justice Allison Riggs (D)
Riggs earned her law degree from the University of Florida and built her career in voting rights litigation, including as chief counsel at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. She was sworn in for her current term in May 2025 after a protracted post-election challenge.
How Justices Get on the Court
North Carolina elects its Supreme Court justices statewide to eight-year terms. Judicial elections were nonpartisan for years, but Session Law 2016-125 restored partisan labels on appellate judicial races starting in 2018. Voters now see each candidate’s party affiliation on the ballot.
The qualifications are minimal. The state constitution requires only that a candidate be authorized to practice law in North Carolina’s courts.3North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Constitution Article 4 – Section 22 There is no minimum age, no residency-duration rule, and no requirement of prior judicial experience, though most justices arrive with decades of legal work behind them.
When a seat opens mid-term through resignation, retirement, or death, the Governor appoints a replacement. For a partisan-elected seat, the Governor must pick from a list of three names submitted by the departing justice’s political party. If the party does not submit names within 30 days, the Governor can appoint any state resident licensed to practice law. The appointee serves until the next general election held more than 60 days after the vacancy, when voters choose someone for a full eight-year term.4North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 163-9 – Filling Vacancies in State and District Judicial Offices
Justices used to face mandatory retirement at age 72 under N.C. Gen. Stat. 7A-4.20. That statute was repealed in October 2023 and replaced with a higher cap: appellate justices and judges now cannot serve past the last day of the calendar year in which they turn 76.5North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7A-4.20 – Repealed Trial court judges kept the original age-72 limit.
What the 2026 Election Will Decide
One Supreme Court seat is on the ballot in 2026: the seat held by Associate Justice Anita Earls, whose term expires December 31, 2026. The statewide primary is set for March 3, 2026, and the general election for November 3, 2026.6North Carolina State Board of Elections. Running for Office The candidate filing period ran from December 1 through December 19, 2025.
Because it is the only Supreme Court seat in play, the outcome determines whether the 5–2 Republican majority holds or narrows to 4–3. The current majority has shaped recent rulings on redistricting, voting access, and criminal law.
What the Court Actually Does
The North Carolina Supreme Court is the final word on questions of state law. All seven justices hear every case together, which differs from the Court of Appeals, where judges often sit in three-judge panels. A four-vote majority controls the outcome.
Most cases reach the court after the Court of Appeals has already ruled, and the losing party asks the Supreme Court to take the case. The court is selective. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. 7A-31, the justices look at whether a case involves a topic of significant public interest, raises legal principles of major significance to the state, or produced a Court of Appeals ruling that conflicts with existing Supreme Court precedent.7North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 7A-31 – Discretionary Review by the Supreme Court The court can also pull a case up before the Court of Appeals decides it, when delay would cause substantial harm or appellate workload makes it more efficient to do so.
A handful of cases skip the Court of Appeals entirely. Death penalty appeals go straight to the Supreme Court when a trial court imposes a capital sentence.8North Carolina Judicial Branch. Court of Appeals – About Certain matters from the Utilities Commission and the Judicial Standards Commission also arrive directly. In a narrow set of circumstances, including constitutional questions decided by the Court of Appeals and cases that produced a dissent, a party has an automatic right to Supreme Court review without needing to petition for it.
The Chief Justice’s Second Job
The Chief Justice is also the head of the entire Judicial Branch, overseeing a system with roughly 7,000 employees and 555 independently elected judges statewide.9North Carolina Judicial Branch. About North Carolina Judicial Branch That administrative role includes appointing the director of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, which handles budgets, technology, and staffing for every courthouse in the state.
The Chief Justice also appoints the chief judge of the Court of Appeals and fills seats on statewide bodies including the Innocence Inquiry Commission, the Judicial Standards Commission, the Sentencing Commission, and the Commission on Indigent Defense Services. Those appointments give the Chief Justice meaningful influence over criminal justice policy, judicial discipline, and court administration beyond individual case rulings.
The Ethics Rules Justices Follow
Every North Carolina justice is bound by the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct.10North Carolina Judicial Branch. The North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct Justices cannot let family, social, or political relationships influence their decisions. They cannot publicly comment on the merits of pending cases. They must avoid even the appearance of bias.
A justice must step aside from a specific case if they have a personal financial interest in the outcome, prior involvement as a lawyer or witness, or a close family relationship with any party or attorney. The code also prohibits membership in organizations that discriminate based on race, gender, religion, or national origin. Violations go through the Judicial Standards Commission, with consequences ranging from a reprimand to removal from office.