Two of seven District Court judgeships in Buncombe County are open after Chief Judge J. Calvin Hill and Judge Andrea Dray chose not to seek reelection. District judges preside over civil cases involving less than $25,000, divorce, mental health hospital commitments, child custody and support cases, almost all misdemeanors and probable cause hearings in felony cases. They also handle juvenile proceedings including abuse, neglect and delinquency. Each judge is elected to a four-year term.
Since 2018, Superior and District Court judgeships in North Carolina have been partisan. Because no Republicans filed to run in this year’s local races, the winner of the primary election will be unopposed in the general election.
N.C. District Court Judge, District 40, Seat 6
Emily Sutton Dezio
Occupation: Attorney at Emily Sutton Dezio, P.A.
Website: emilysuttondezio.com
Why are you running?
I’m running for District Court judge to serve our community because of my extensive Family Court and trial experience. If you step in District Court, you will see hearings about custody, property division, alimony, juvenile neglect/abuse, traffic matters, misdemeanors including assaults and DWIs. You will see victims of domestic violence and hearings about child support.
Buncombe deserves judges with experience in these sensitive and complicated matters — someone who knows the law and rules of court but understands how personal these issues are. Experience is the most reliable way to protect citizens and families who find themselves in our court system.
What differentiates you from your primary opponent?
I am a mom, small-business owner and community volunteer. I have 20 years of courtroom experience with focusing in family law and appellate cases. I’m known for actively listening and demonstrating depth of knowledge.
Judge Dray is retiring her seat in Unified Family Court. I have appeared before over 60 different judges in 20 different counties. I have been named attorney of record for 766 cases in civil District Court matters in Buncombe County, alone. My opponent works for an important advocacy organization but lacks the substantial courtroom experience, having only 55 cases that she is named attorney of record.
Do you lean more toward the letter of the law or the spirit of the law?
As a trial lawyer, I analyze cases depending on the case. I analyze criminal cases from a letter-of-the-law perspective, as the state is responsible to present evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that a person charged with a crime committed it as outlined by the statute. My work ensures my client’s constitutional due process rights are protected.
Conversely, much of the work in civil District Court requires the interpretation of the statutes through the application of relevant case law. My experience matters, as a good judge analyzes the thousands of cases that shaped the law.
Are there any diversion programs that Buncombe County does not have but you think it should?
Mental health issues impact every aspect of District Court — from Family Court, to matters of juvenile abuse or neglect, and in criminal courts. Mental Health Courts, or better known as Wellness Courts, are operational in seven of the 100 counties in North Carolina. Buncombe County is currently not one of them. The goal of Wellness Courts is to facilitate cooperation between state mental health systems, local mental health providers and our court system.
If elected, I would serve my community by exploring what more can be done for mental health wellness to implement available resources that people need.
How will you balance being an independent judge and an elected official in a partisan race?
There was a time in recent history that judicial elections were nonpartisan. The work of a District Court judge does not raise partisan issues. One would never decide whether someone is guilty of driving while impaired, establish his/her/their child support or decide matters of property division based upon the litigant’s politics.
Judges and judicial candidates are governed by the Code of Judicial Conduct. The Code of Conduct allows judicial candidates to identify with a political party but restricts judicial candidates from giving any opinion about any issue that could be before them. I will honor these rules with integrity.
Robin Merrell
Occupation: Managing attorney, Pisgah Legal Services
Website: robinforjudge.com
Why are you running?
So that I can continue to serve our community and bring my compassion and experience into every courtroom decision. For the past 23 years, I have served at Pisgah Legal Services. It is a nonprofit legal services organization whose mission is to pursue justice by providing legal services and advocacy to help low-income people in WNC meet their basic needs and improve their lives, a mission that I share personally. I’ll draw on my values, education, courtroom experiences (hundreds of cases in small claims, District and Superior courts) and managing attorney experience (overseeing programs, supervising attorneys) as a judge.
What differentiates you from your primary opponent?
I’ve dedicated my career to nongovernmental public interest law in service to the vulnerable people in our community who need but can’t afford attorneys. I have tried hundreds of cases and I have also served on boards, run task forces, managed programs and staff, raised money for nonprofits and written millions of dollars worth of grants to fund housing and programs for the unhoused. This work has honed my skills of collaboration, writing, speaking in public and interacting with various types of people. I have learned patience, composure and emotional maturity, which are vital for the service of a judge.
Do you lean more toward the letter of the law or the spirit of the law?
Our system for establishing law can move very slowly and is often behind the changes of society. It is important to examine both what the law is saying and what is intended by what the law is saying. Using the principles of fairness and due process, a judge can take what is written in the law and apply it to the facts as appropriate. As for judicial philosophy, established judges tell me that I won’t develop my own until I become a judge. The approach of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is an approach I seek to emulate.
Are there any diversion programs that Buncombe County does not have but you think it should?
I’m a strong believer in both diversion programs and specialty treatment courts, such as Veterans Treatment Court. They reduce recidivism by trying to address the underlying issues that bring a person into the court system. I’d like us to add a Mental Health Court (as seven counties have). It would facilitate cooperation between the state mental health system, mental health service providers and the court. Repeat adult offenders needing mental health services could receive services aimed at improving their ability to function in the community, thereby reducing recidivism. I’d like us to develop a homelessness specialty court; none exist in North Carolina.
How will you balance being an independent judge and an elected official in a partisan race?
I’ve prioritized collaboration and cooperation over partisanship throughout my career. As I campaign, I talk about my belief in the value of all people and that we all should be able to access justice regardless of the things that make us different. Judges are required to be fair and impartial and to follow the Code of Judicial Conduct. The code has requirements for not only judges but also for candidates. We’re allowed to raise money for ourselves and our political party. We cannot endorse other candidates or donate to their campaigns. We cannot express opinions about pending or existing legislation.
N.C. District Court Judge, District 40, Seat 7
Todd Lentz
Occupation: Attorney at DeVere Lentz & Associates
Website: lentzforjudge.com
Why are you running?
I have practiced in Western North Carolina with a home base of Buncombe County for the past 23 years. During that time I have worked for individual clients trying to help them with their problems. I now feel it is time for me to serve all of the people of Buncombe County.
What differentiates you from your primary opponent?
Having worked for the past 23 years as a private attorney, I have represented clients in all aspects of District Court: criminal, civil, family law, child support, juvenile, restraining orders and cases involving the Department of Social Services. I have been the attorney of record for over 1,200 family law matters and over 4,000 criminal cases in Buncombe County alone. I have also appeared in District and Superior courts in the majority of counties in Western North Carolina as well as federal court. I feel that this experience and exposure has prepared me to step into any court in our county on Day 1 and competently proceed. My opponent, while being very prepared for criminal District Court as a prosecutor, would not be so prepared for all of the other things that a District Court judge does.
Do you lean more toward the letter of the law or the spirit of the law?
All matters should be taken on a case-by-case basis, and in so doing, for justice to be served, some cases may require the presiding judge to follow the letter of the law, while other cases may lend themselves more toward the spirit of the law. I do not feel that a judge should lean either way but base their opinion on the evidence presented in each matter.
Are there any diversion programs that Buncombe County does not have but you think it should?
Through the hard work of many dedicated individuals, Buncombe County is fortunate enough to already have in place a large number of diversion programs, including misdemeanor and felony drug diversion programs and the Justice Resource Center, which helps individuals address anger management, substance abuse and mental health issues. We also have a number of treatment-oriented courts, such as Sobriety Court, Veterans Treatment Court, and SOAR Family Treatment Court, as well as an Adult Drug Treatment Court. None of our surrounding counties are lucky enough to have as many diversion programs as we do. At this time, I am not aware of any beneficial diversion program that we do not already have in place. However, I am always open to seeing new ideas aimed at helping our residents and, if fortunate enough to be elected, I would have an open-door policy to listen to any thoughts on diversion programs and anything aimed at helping with the mental health and substance abuse issues facing many of our citizens.
How will you balance being an independent judge and an elected official in a partisan race?
I am not a politician, and I do not enjoy this process. If I am fortunate enough to be referred to as “your honor,” that is all I will be. I will serve the people of Buncombe County in a fair, just and impartial manner, and will not, under any circumstances, bow to any type of political pressure for any reason.
Meredith Pressley Stone
Occupation: Assistant district attorney
Website: meredithforjudge.com
Why are you running?
My primary motivation to run for District Court judge is to ensure that this seat is filled by someone who will provide fair and equitable leadership for our citizens of Buncombe County and who has the experience in our District Courts. I will provide that leadership and experience. I am a career public servant, Buncombe native, parent of two small children and a volunteer.
In my work, case by case, I always work to be fair and equitable by looking at the individual circumstances involved. I have tried many of our community’s toughest criminal cases and advocated for victims in Buncombe County.
What differentiates you from your primary opponent?
My demonstrated experience as a minister of justice and as an innovator in expanding alternatives to traditional, cookie-cutter, judicial processes set me apart from other candidates.
I have dedicated my career to public service as an assistant district attorney for over 16 years. I have worked to expand Buncombe County’s treatment courts, diversion programs, driver’s license restoration and expunction clinics. This work is essential to my role as a minister of justice, which requires that I seek justice, not merely seek convictions. I am committed to fairness and equity in our court system and throughout our community.
Do you lean more toward the letter of the law or the spirit of the law?
Both. If elected to be your next District Court judge, I am bound to follow the law as enacted by the legislature and to apply the law fairly and equitably to anyone who comes before me in court.
Are there any diversion programs that Buncombe County does not have but you think it should?
I am proud to have had a role in the fact that Buncombe County now has flourishing adult misdemeanor diversion and felony drug diversion programs, as well as our treatment courts, Sobriety Court, Drug Court and Veterans Treatment Court. I supported all of them and have pleaded participants into all of those courts. I would like to add a Mental Health Court. Seven districts in North Carolina have implemented Mental Health Courts to facilitate cooperation between mental health systems and service providers and the court to reduce recidivism and link eligible offenders with mental health services.
How will you balance being an independent judge and an elected official in a partisan race?
While the judicial elections are partisan races, if elected as a District Court judge, I will be serving all of Buncombe County. I strive to be equitable and fair in analyzing each case I review and seeking justice in each case. I am held to a unique ethical rule as a prosecutor, which is to seek to be a minister of justice. As a judge, I would treat each side fairly in reviewing the facts and applying those facts to the law before making a determination in each case.
Thanks for caring about this election. Some of the information provided about me above is inaccurate. I have substantial courtroom experience having tried hundreds of cases not the 55 my opponent claims. Court records for these types of issues are notoriously inaccurate. Many of the cases I tried that determined if a person could stay in their home records no attorneys of record. Other types of cases may or may not record attorneys of record. It’s a faulty system. I have almost 24 years of experience practicing law; it’s too bad inaccurate information is making it seem less than it is.
Thank you, Robin, for pointing this out.