Phil Berger Jr. becomes administrative law judge

Former Rockingham County district attorney and unsuccessful congressional candidate Phil Berger Jr. has a new job: He will be sworn in Monday afternoon as an administrative law judge.

Berger, whose father is the Republican leader of the state Senate, was selected by Chief Administrative Law Judge Julian Mann III.

Berger replaces Judge Beecher Gray, who was appointed by Gov. Pat McCrory to special superior court judge last year.

There are nine administrative law judges and a chief. They hear appeals of state agency decisions. The chief administrative law judge is appointed by the chief justice of the state Supreme Court for a four-year term.

Berger lost the Republican primary in the Sixth Congressional District to Mark Walker, who went on to win election to replace the retiring U.S. Rep. Howard Coble.

Also taking a new job at the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings this week is former state representative William Culpepper III. He becomes the new general counsel for the agency.

Culpepper was a Democratic legislator from Edenton representing Chowan, Dare, Gates, Perquimans and Tyrrell counties. In 2006, Gov. Mike Easley appointed him to the state Utilities Commission.

This story was originally published January 5, 2015 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Phil Berger Jr. becomes administrative law judge."