Chief Justice Cheri Beasley has made new appointments to the Family Court Advisory Committee. 

North Carolina's Family Court Advisory Committee was established in 1999 by Chief Justice Henry Frye to guide the operation, enhancement and expansion of the North Carolina family court program. Its membership includes judges from every level of the bench, clerks of superior court, family court administrators, law professors, specialists, and representatives from specific practices areas who interact with family court.

“Our family courts help us ensure that we keep family-related matters moving promptly through our judicial system,” said Chief Justice Beasley. “Each of the new appointees have shown career-long dedication to children and families in North Carolina and I am confident that they will serve the committee well.”  

The new appointments are as follows: 

Pitt County Chief District Court Judge Galen Braddy has been appointed as chair. Judge Braddy has served on the committee since July, 2018. He assumes the role of chair following the resignation of Mecklenburg County Chief District Court Judge Regan A. Miller who has served as chair since his appointment in July, 2014 by Chief Justice Sarah Parker. Judge Miller will be focusing on other court matters. 

Chief District Judge Amanda “Amy” Wilson (Anson, Richmond, Scotland Counties) has been appointed to fill the balance of Judge Miller's three-year term as the second family court chief district court judge on the committee. 

Shirley Webb-Owens has been appointed to a three-year term. Ms. Webb-Owens is the family court administrator in Judicial District 6 (Halifax, Northampton, Hertford, and Bertie Counties). Currently, family court operates only in Halifax County, but efforts are being made to expand the specialty court into the other rural counties. 

Julie C. Boyer, a certified juvenile delinquency and criminal law specialist and child custody attorney, has been appointed to a three-year term on the committee. Ms. Boyer's Winston-Salem practice focuses on juvenile delinquency and criminal defense at both the trial and appellate levels. 

Twyla Hollingsworth-Richardson, an attorney for the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, has also been appointed to a three-year term on the committee.  

Our family courts help us ensure that we keep family-related matters moving promptly through our judicial system

About Family Court
By implementing family court best practices, North Carolina’s family court districts streamline case management to improve court efficiency. In the most recent fiscal year, statewide the family court domestic pending median case age was just 118 days, compared to 347 days in non-family court districts. A major goal of family court is to consolidate and assign a family's legal issues before a single district court judge or team of judges. This allows family court judges to become familiar with and better address each family's issues, and keeps families from having to recount their history for multiple judges at each hearing. District court judges designated as family court judges hear cases involving, juvenile delinquency, abuse, neglect and dependency allegations, termination of parental rights, domestic violence, child custody and visitation rights, divorce and related financial issues like child support, alimony, and equitable distribution of property. 

Family courts currently operate in fifteen judicial districts covering twenty-seven counties which is where 47% of our state's population resides.