NC chief justice quietly ousts top Republican appeals judge from leadership
The top judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals lost her leadership position as the chief justice of the state Supreme Court replaced her with a colleague.
Judge Donna Stroud, a Republican who has served as chief judge of the court since 2021, will be succeeded by Judge Chris Dillon. Stroud will continue to serve on the court, to which members are elected by voters statewide to eight-year terms.
Stroud, who was first elected in 2006, is the most senior member of the court, the metric which has traditionally been used to determine the chief judge.
Dillon, also a Republican, was elected in 2012, and has previously worked as a bank vice president and real estate broker. He is also the chair of the Judicial Standards Commission, which handles ethics complaints against judges.
The leadership shakeup was not publicly announced, but the court’s website was updated to show Dillon as the new chief judge.
The chief justice of the Supreme Court, Paul Newby, who is also a Republican, has not commented on his decision to replace Stroud.
A request for comment sent to the Administrative Office of the Courts was not immediately returned on Tuesday. AOC spokespeople also did not respond to The News & Observer’s questions about Stroud’s position when asked on Dec. 21 and Dec. 27.
Stroud’s office did not respond to a phone call from The N&O on Tuesday afternoon.
She confirmed to WRAL that Newby removed her from the position, saying that he told her some courts rotate chief judges routinely.
Former Court of Appeals Judge Chris Brook called the move “unprecedented” on X, formerly Twitter.
“All prior chief judges have left the position on account of retiring from the bench or passing away,” he continued. “Neither happened here as Judge Stroud continues to serve on the Court of Appeals.”
Stroud faced a contentious primary race when she ran for reelection in 2022, with several of the state’s top Republicans supporting her opponent, Beth Freshwater Smith. A photograph of Newby himself appeared in a campaign ad posted on Freshwater Smith’s Facebook page.
Some Republicans became displeased with Stroud after she supported a non-Republican to become clerk of the Court of Appeals, The N&O previously reported.
Former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr said the legal community has discussed fixed terms for chief judges in the past in order to give more people the chance to do the job. Without terms in place, though, the chief judge stays the same unless the chief justice decides to make a change.
“There’s no sort of graceful way to do it as I guess we’re finding out in this circumstance, but it’s completely within the chief’s authority,” he told The N&O.
This story was originally published January 2, 2024 at 5:15 PM.
