Morganton attorney Timothy J. Rooks speaks during a Flag Day celebration in Valdese on June 14. Rooks has been appointed by Gov. Josh Stein to a Superior Court judgeship.
Morganton attorney Timothy J. Rooks speaks during a Flag Day celebration in Valdese on June 14. Rooks has been appointed by Gov. Josh Stein to a Superior Court judgeship.
Morganton resident Timothy Rooks, an attorney with more than 30 years of experience, has been appointed by Gov. Josh Stein as a N.C. Superior Court judge, filling a vacancy created when Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin retired at the end of August.
Rooks, who is also campaigning for election to a full term next year, said his goal is to assume the bench as quickly as possible to take some weight off Daniel Kuehnert, who is one of two Superior Court judges in District 36.
“I got excited this weekend,” Rooks said. “It was humbling, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to serve. As of Monday of this week, I put all that (excitement) aside and started to focus on what needs to be done.”
Rooks said he aims to assume the bench by October. In the meantime, he is working on closing his private practice.
In a June interview with The Paper, Rooks said the county has a shortage of attorneys willing to defend serious felony cases in Superior Court.
He said highlighting the challenging nature of defending those cases is one way to catch the interest of young attorneys looking to build a body of work.
In the same interview, Rooks said he is a big fan of the Veterans Treatment Court program, which helps veterans charged with less serious felonies deal with mental health and substance abuse problems as an alternative to incarceration.
Rooks graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1993. He has practiced in Burke County since 2000. He has been mediating cases — facilitating agreements between opposing parties — for the last 17 years.
Rooks will be on the Republican ballot for the 2026 election. The primary will be in March 2026. The general election is set for Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026.
Mica Banks is the County Government reporter for The Paper. She can be reached at 828-445-8595 or mica@thepaper.media.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.