Governor McCrory Appoints Judge Lisa Bell to Court of Appeals | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Raleigh, N.C. - Governor Pat McCrory has appointed Special Superior Court Judge Lisa Bell to the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Judge Bell will fill outgoing Chief Judge John Martin's seat, who retired from the Court of Appeals August 1. She will serve on the Court until December 31, 2014.

    "Judge Bell has been a tremendous asset to our state's judiciary, first as a District Court Judge and now as a Special Superior Court Judge," Governor McCrory said. "Her dedication, wisdom and experience will serve our state well and I look forward to her continued service on the Court of Appeals."

    Prior to her appointment as a Special Superior Court Judge in May 2013, Judge Bell served as Chief District Court Judge for Mecklenburg County from 2009 to 2013. She was first elected a District Court Judge in 1998 and re-elected in 2002, 2006 and 2010. During her tenure, she presided over criminal trials; domestic cases; administrative and first-appearance courts; juvenile abuse, neglect and dependency court; juvenile delinquency court; mental-health commitment hearings; and domestic-violence courts. She has also presided over adult drug-treatment court, family and youth-treatment court and mental-health court. She is a State Certified Juvenile Judge.

    Previously, Judge Bell was in private practice as a family lawyer and had also served as an attorney advocate with the Children's Law Center.

    Judge Bell graduated cum laude from Wake Forest University with a bachelor of arts in economics, where she was a Hankins Scholar. She earned her law degree from the University of North Carolina.

• Contact: Crystal Feldman
•     govpress@nc.gov