Chief Justice Paul Newby  and his wife Macon completed his historic 100-county courthouse tour from Murphy to Manteo with final stops in Chowan and Dare counties last week with Dare being the 100th county.

Newby greeted judges and courthouse staff at each of the courthouses to thank them for their hard work and dedication in keeping courts operational and accessible to North Carolinians. Judges and courthouse staff are essential in fulfilling the Judicial Branch's constitutional "open courts" mandate to provide equal justice to all in a timely manner.

"I embarked on this tour to express appreciation to local judges, clerks, and courthouse personnel and to gain a better understanding of the unique challenges faced by each courthouse," Newby said. "This tour has been instrumental in learning how we can best support local judicial leadership to further our mission and to meet our Constitutional mandate to deliver justice without favor, denial, or delay, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic."

The tour began in May 2021 with a visit to Cherokee County. Newby is the first sitting chief justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina to visit all of North Carolina's courthouses, completing his tour from Murphy to Manteo.