The North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services (NCIDS) announced today that the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys has appointed Goldsboro attorney Tonya Davis Barber to the Commission on Indigent Defense Services. Barber's term runs from September 1, 2022, through August 3, 2026. 

"Tonya has demonstrated a commitment to appointed work," said Commission Chair Dorothy Hairston Mitchell. "We look forward to the contributions she will make to the work of the Commission." 

Barber graduated from North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina in 2011. Prior to law school, Barber worked as a paralegal for ten years. During that time, she completed her criminal justice degree from Mount Olive College (now the University of Mount Olive). After passing the bar exam on the first attempt, she worked briefly with a bankruptcy attorney while growing her practice. Soon after that, she prosecuted for the Eighth Judicial District
(Greene, Lenoir, and Wayne counties) followed by an appointment as a Wayne County magistrate before opening up Barber Law. Earlier this year she joined attorney Walter Webster to establish Barber Webster Law, PLLC.

Barber is married with two children. Barber has served on many committees and boards in her community. She is the president of the Wayne County Bar Association and past president of the Eighth Judicial District Bar Association.
Currently, she serves on the Downtown Goldsboro Development Corporation Board of Directors.

The Commission on Indigent Defense Services and IDS staff are dedicated to ensuring that the defense community is provided with the proper training, education, and support needed to combat systemic issues that serve as barriers to their clients.