← State supreme courts · North Carolina overview
North Carolina Supreme Court
The highest court in North Carolina. Who sits on it, how they got there and how long their terms run.
Partisan electionHow justices are chosenVoters elect the justices; candidates' party labels appear on the ballot.
8 yearsTerm length
7Sitting justices
1818Founded
No public decision data available for this court. There is no free, consistently coded source of how each state justice votes in cases, so this site doesn't score state judges.
Justices
Paul Martin Newby
Chief Justice
Party as listed: Republican
Took office: January 1, 2005
Elected
Photo: Ballotpedia
Trey Allen
Justice
Party as listed: Republican
Took office: January 1, 2023
Appointing official: not listed
Photo: Ballotpedia
Tamara Barringer
Justice
Party as listed: Republican
Took office: January 1, 2021
Elected
Photo: Ballotpedia
Phil Berger Jr.
Justice
Party as listed: Republican
Took office: January 1, 2021
Elected
Photo: Ballotpedia
Richard Dietz
Justice
Party as listed: Republican
Took office: January 1, 2023
Appointing official: not listed
Photo: Ballotpedia
Allison Riggs
Justice
Party as listed: Democratic
Took office: September 11, 2023
Appointed by Roy Cooper (D)
Photo: Ballotpedia
Source: Ballotpedia, North Carolina Supreme Court (retrieved Oct 26, 2026). “Party as listed” is Ballotpedia’s label; many state justices are officially nonpartisan. Photos from each justice’s Ballotpedia page (or Wikimedia Commons where Ballotpedia has none). Click a name for a short profile.