By CLARA CARTTRETTE

Not since Judge Raymond Mallard of Tabor City served as chief justice of the N.C. Court of Appeals has a Columbus County resident held a statewide office.

That could change this year if Senior Resident Superior Court Judge William C. “Bill” Gore of Whiteville wins a seat on the N.C. Supreme Court, the state’s highest court.

Mallard was appointed to the second-highest court in 1967 by Gov. Luther Hodges and was named chief justice. He ran and won in 1968 and was re-appointed chief justice. He retired in 1973.

Gore is one of five seeking the post now held by Justice George Wainwright, who is not seeking re-election. The top two contenders in the May primary will battle it out in the November general election.

Gore, 54, has been a judge for 25 years, becoming the youngest trial judge in the state in 1980 as a District Court judge of the 13th Judicial District. He was appointed chief district court judge in 1984 and was elected three times to that office between 1980-90.

He was elected Superior Court judge in statewide elections in 1990 and 1994 and became the 13th District’s resident Superior Court judge in 1992. He was elected in 2002 to an eight-year term.

Gore has held court in 40 of the state’s 100 counties, hearing all manner of civil and criminal cases, including numerous capital murder cases. He is proud that not one of his cases has been reversed by any appellate court.

He is the son of Charles and Minnie Gore of the Pleasant Plains community, where Judge Gore and his brother David also reside with their families. He is married to the former Michele Rhode and they have four children, Bill III, Dawn, Lindsey and Tara, ranging from age 30 to 13.

A Whiteville High School honor graduate, Gore earned an A.B. in English at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1974 and graduated cum laude from N.C. Central University School of Law in 1977.

Gore has a diverse background in the courtroom, having started his career as a defense attorney working in district and superior courts on cases that included rape and armed robbery. He then joined the District Attorney’s staff for a couple of years and prosecuted serious felonies and capital murder cases. He lost only two jury trials in two years and obtained convictions in all of the murder cases he prosecuted.

A member of Pleasant Plains Baptist Church, Gore is a Sunday school teacher and choir member, past chairman of deacons, chairman of the constitution committee and chairman of the Columbus Baptist Association’s family life committee. He was incorporator and charter board member of the County Fair, Whiteville Parents for Advancement of Gifted Education and Communities in Schools. He served on the Arts Council, won the Jaycees Distinguished Service Award, was an Outstanding Young Man of America and presented a program on criminal justice and juvenile law to all city and county eighth graders from 1980-88.

The Supreme Court of North Carolina is the state’s highest court. This court has a chief justice and six associate justices who serve as a panel in Raleigh. The Supreme Court has no jury, and it makes no determination of fact; rather, it considers error in legal procedures or in judicial interpretation of the law.

“I never had a burning desire to be on the Supreme Court, but I have a real concern with the current make up of the (Supreme) court,” Gore said. “After Justice Wainwright retires, only one justice will have tried murder cases. I am considered one of the senior judges, and I was approached by several Superior Court judges who said if I would file they wouldn’t. I think judges are concerned about being judged by justices who have less experience than they do.”

Gore said he has imposed the death penalty at the mandatory recommendation of a jury five times. Among those he put on death row is the youngest woman in North Carolina to get the death penalty, 19 at the time of the crime. She was involved in the Crypts cases with nine defendants. Three got the death penalty for killing two people. One victim was shot and left for dead.

“As a judge, the only reputation for which I have striven is that of a fair, impartial judge who makes sure the parties in every case have a level playing field and that justice is administered with an even hand,” Gore said. “I believe the function of a judge is to carefully apply the law after the facts are found, without regard for the outcome. I have found that patience and the courage to do the right thing in the face of ‘public clamor’ and media criticism are as important as legal knowledge and judicial temperament. I do not believe in judicial social engineering or judges legislating from the bench; those functions are constitutionally mandated and secured to the legislature.”

Gore said that in criminal court he has always attempted to protect every statutory and constitutional right and privilege of an accused, giving that person the full presumption of innocence.

“I have attempted to make sure that every defendant who wanted a chance to address alcohol and substance addiction had that opportunity, either on probation or in prison,” he said. “I have tried to give every non-violent offender a chance to succeed at reform and rehabilitation, but for those who would not then adhere to the code of conduct required by civilized people, I have incarcerated them.”

Gore said he has stood up to attempts at intimidation from “powerful” lawyers and politicians, has not succumbed to pressure from the families of criminal defendants who have sought special treatment, has tried to keep abreast of the constant changes in the law and adhered to the highest professional and ethical standards.

“I chose a career of public service and ideological integrity because I have a passion for justice,” he said. “I have tried my utmost to see that justice was always the ‘polar star’ in my court, regardless of the consequences. For 25 years the people of Bladen, Brunswick and Columbus counties have trusted me with their affairs, liberty and too frequently, the ultimate issue of life and death. This trust is a privilege and duty which I hold sacred, and by my actions as a private citizen and as a judge, I have sought and will continue to seek to uphold the highest ideals of the judiciary, and to continue to deserve the trust and confidence vested in me by my fellow citizens.”

Gore noted that most of the Supreme Court’s work is to review on appeal the trials, judgments and orders of the Superior Courts, including specifically, capital murder cases.

“As such, the Supreme Court fulfills a ‘quality assurance’ function for our trial courts,” he said. “With the retirement of Justice Wainwright and Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake, only Justice Mark Martin has any experience as a Superior Court judge or in presiding over the trial of capital murder cases. I believe most thinking folks agree that a supervisor should have actually performed the job he/she is reviewing, and that reading about how to properly try a case, and actually doing the job are two very different things.”

Gore invites constituents to read more about him on his website, www.judgegore.com