“
Four things belong to a judge:
to hear courteously, to answer wisely,
to consider soberly, and to decide impartially.
– Socrates
James H. Faison, III
DISTRICT COURT JUDGE
SIXTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
NEW HANOVER AND PENDER COUNTIES
A LIFE OF SERVICE
A Life of Service.
A Legacy of Leadership.
The Honorable James H. Faison, III, has proudly served New Hanover and Pender Counties as a District Court Judge for over 25 years. Judge Faison eagerly desires to continue his unique, steady, and principled leadership which balances experience, integrity, and fairness.
For many years, from the pulpit to the bench and throughout our region, Faison has faithfully served the youth and families in New Hanover and Pender Counties and throughout the surrounding communities. He has been a compassionate pastor, judge, community leader, motivational speaker, mentor, and volunteer at many community events, including reading programs, school career fairs, and youth-oriented events, for many years.
In his judicial role, Judge Faison is best known as a judge who is fair, but firm when necessary and a humble, approachable, and passionate public servant, who loves God and loves people.
Quick Facts
✦ 25+ Years as District Court Judge
✦ Sixth Judicial District
✦ New Hanover & Pender Counties
✦ Pastor Since 1998
✦ Advocate for Youth, Education & Community
ROOTS & HERITAGE
His Beginnings
Born in New Hanover County and raised in Pender County, James H. Faison, III proudly calls both communities his home. His journey began in the colored ward of historic James Walker Hospital in Wilmington, NC in 1962. He is the son of lifelong public servants and educators who instilled in him the values of love for God, family, country, education, and public service.
His parents, the late Deacon James H. Faison, Jr., and the late Deaconess Mary R. Faison, were dedicated educators and public servants. Deacon Faison also served as the New Hanover County Director of Vocational Education, Pender County Democratic Party Chair, and as a Pender County Commissioner.
As a young person, Faison was deeply involved in church, school, athletics, and community programs at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Rocky Point, NC, the 4-H Club, and the Friendship Community Boy Scouts. He served as JROTC battalion commander, football quarterback and safety, student government president, and senior class president before matriculating to North Carolina Central University on a football scholarship, graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He earned his Juris Doctor Degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law, where he participated on the Moot Court and Trial Advocacy teams and was selected as Who’s Who Among American Law Students.
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His parents’ careers collectively spanned Williston Senior High School, Pender County Training School, West Pender Elementary School, Hoggard High School, Cape Fear Technical Institute (now Cape Fear Community College), Burgaw High School, Pender High School, and D.C. Virgo Junior High School. Faison himself attended the Williston Senior High School Pre-School until its closure in 1968.
His youthful Sundays were spent at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Rocky Point, singing in the Youth Choir, serving as a Junior Deacon, and delivering Holy Communion to the sick and shut-in alongside his father, who chaired the Deacon Ministry under Pastor John D. Morrisey. Faison accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at the age of fourteen. He was also an active member of the 4-H Club, where a poultry-raising project taught him responsibility and 4-H speech competitions helped him develop the oratory skills and confidence he still carries into the courtroom today, and he was one of the original members of the Friendship Community Boy Scouts before the club closed due to cost.
From fishing at Topsail and Wrightsville Beaches and local creek waters, to learning mule and plow farming, to harvesting vegetables on Lewis Farm, to cropping tobacco for Deacon Walter Seymour Bright, to flipping hamburgers at Wilmington’s 3rd Street Burger King, Faison learned the integrity, hard work, dedication, patience, and teamwork that would shape his leadership and judicial temperament.
FAITH & FAMILY
Faith and Family: The Foundation of a Lifetime of Service
Faison was raised in a household where faith, family, and service were not merely spoken of — they were lived. His parents, the late Deacon James H. Faison, Jr. and the late Deaconess Mary R. Faison, were lifelong educators and public servants who instilled in him a love for God, family, country, education, and public service. From fishing the local waters to farming, cropping tobacco, and playing organized sports, Faison learned integrity, hard work, dedication, patience, and teamwork — values that became the foundation of his leadership and balanced judicial temperament.
Faison is married to Angela W. Faison, the love of his life and an ordained minister. Their union of more than 36 years has overflowed into ministry, community service, and philanthropy — he affectionately calls her his “Angel with an A.” The two graduated the same year from Pender High School, where Angela cheered him on from the sidelines and has remained his greatest cheerleader in marriage, ministry, and life ever since.
James and Angela have one daughter, Christa, a licensed minister married to Lawrence Colvin, Jr. Christa, Lawrence, and their daughter reside in Wake County, North Carolina. In every role he carries — husband, father, pastor, mentor, community leader, and judge — Faison gives thanks to God for the calling to lift people up, whether from the pulpit, the bench, or the heart of the community.
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Long before their wedding day, Angela was already cheering James on as a Pender High School cheerleader supporting him on the football field. In the more than three decades since, the couple has built a shared life of ministry and service — Angela, an ordained minister in her own right, stands beside Judge Faison in the pulpit, the community, and the many scholarships and youth programs they have founded and funded together throughout New Hanover and Pender Counties.
PENDER HIGH · NCCU · NCCU LAW
Education, Athletics, and Leadership
As a young teen, Faison attended Pender High School and was deeply involved in school leadership roles, athletics, and community programs. He served as JROTC battalion commander, drill team commander, football quarterback and safety, football and track team co-captain, student government president, and senior class president.
Following high school graduation, Faison matriculated to North Carolina Central University on a football scholarship and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science. He went on to earn his Juris Doctor Degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law, where he participated on the Moot Court and Trial Advocacy teams and was selected as Who’s Who Among American Law Students.
Through his family, church, and community, Faison learned the values of integrity, hard work, dedication, patience, and teamwork — laying the foundation for leadership and a balanced temperament for judicial service.
BYRD'S CHAPEL MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
His Ministry from the Pulpit
Since February 1998, Judge Faison has served as Pastor of Byrd’s Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Rose Hill, NC — a calling he and his wife, Rev. Angela W. Faison, have answered together for more than 25 years. In 2023, the congregation celebrated his 25th Pastoral Anniversary.
His ministry is an extension of the same calling that guides him from the bench — a deep, abiding commitment to serving people with compassion, integrity, and truth. On Sundays, he leads his congregation. The rest of the week, he leads the Sixth Judicial District — always guided by the same principles of fairness and faith.
“And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” — Jeremiah 3:15
Leadership worth following. — Hebrews 13:7
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Beyond the pulpit at Byrd’s Chapel, Pastor Faison is a Fellow of the Institute of Theologians and has served for more than 20 years as Leading Counselor for the Lower Sampson Missionary Union, District VI. He is also a longtime member and former Youth Council Director of the Kenansville Eastern Missionary Baptist Association (KEMBA), and he is frequently called upon as an instructor for KEMBA’s Ministers’ and Deacons’ Union, teaching biblical leadership principles and offering guidance on church polity and conflict resolution to fellow pastors and deacons.
Under his ministry leadership, annual missionary programs have supported orphanages, senior citizens, African well-digging projects, and hurricane and disaster relief, along with school supply, clothing, and food drives. In training the youth in his care, Faison often turns to Proverbs 3:5–6 and Proverbs 22:6, and he lives by the old African proverb that “it takes a village to raise a child,” along with his own motto: “Exposure creates options, options determine choices, and choices determine success.”
MENTORSHIP & COMMUNITY IMPACT
Champion for Youth
Long before recognition found him, Judge Faison was already showing up — in schools, in gyms, in courtrooms, and in communities — investing in the next generation. His advocacy for youth is not a policy. It is a calling.
Pastor’s Eagle Club
Pastor Faison established the Pastor’s Eagle Club to promote and reward youth excellence through scripture, academic achievement, talent, sportsmanship, service, and Christian character.
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Young people are recognized and rewarded for reciting scripture, learning the books of the Bible, presenting their talents, earning good grades, practicing good sportsmanship, and exhibiting excellent Christian character at home, church, school, and in the community.
KEMBA Youth Council
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Comprised of youth leaders from 48 member churches, the KEMBA Youth Council has hosted annual Youth and Family Empowerment Conferences drawing thousands of young people and adults, featuring speakers such as a retired U.S. Ambassador and professional athletes, along with a basketball tournament and jump rope competitions. Other signature events Faison helped spearhead include an annual College and Career Fair with university chancellors as guest speakers, a School Supply Give-Away, the Youth March for Christ, and the Youth Talent Showcase.
Teen Court & Moot Court
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Judge Faison also authored the anti-bullying resolutions later adopted by the Pender, New Hanover, and Duplin County Boards of Education and County Commissioners, as well as the City of Wilmington City Council. He has taught Public Safety and Law and Justice classes at Topsail High School on how to become a judge and how the judicial system works, and is developing plans to expand these sessions into youth law clinics throughout New Hanover and Pender Counties.
SIXTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
Champion for Justice
25+
Years
District Court Judge
Historic First
First African American male District Court Judge in the district since Reconstruction
Recovery Court
Longtime Community Recovery Court Judge
State Leadership
President, NC Association of District Court Judges
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Before taking the bench, Faison spent three years (1989–1992) as a staff attorney with Legal Services of the Lower Cape Fear, representing indigent clients and veterans before the Veterans Administration and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims across a seven-county area, while also serving on the Justice Fellowship Task Force of Prison Fellowship Ministries, founded by Charles “Chuck” Colson. That task force’s “Plan for Restorative Justice,” with 36 policy recommendations, helped form the basis of North Carolina’s Structured Sentencing Act. He also taught Legal Systems as an adjunct instructor at Cape Fear Community College.
From 1992 to 2000, Faison served as an Assistant District Attorney for New Hanover and Pender Counties, earning an Outstanding Service Award from the District Attorney’s office in 2000. The late Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. then appointed him District Court Judge for the Fifth (now Sixth) Judicial District, making him the first African American male in the district to hold that post since Reconstruction. He has since been re-elected unopposed for six consecutive terms and is approaching his 26th year on the bench, including approximately 24 years presiding over Community Recovery (Drug Treatment) Court, one of the longest tenures of any treatment court judge in North Carolina.
Judge Faison chairs the statewide Judicial Managed Accountability and Recovery Courts Advisory Committee (first appointed in 2008, reappointed in 2023), served on the NC Judicial Standards Commission (2018–2024) and the Regional Judicial Opioid Initiative under former Chief Justice Mark Martin, chaired the NC DWI Task Force (2014–2017) under Governor Pat McCrory, and in 2024–2025 served as President of the NC Association of District Court Judges, representing 289 judges statewide.
OPENING DOORS THROUGH OPPORTUNITY
Scholarships & Education Support
Judge Faison has long believed that education is the great equalizer. Through named scholarship awards, school visits, and sustained community investment, he has worked tirelessly to open doors for students in New Hanover and Pender Counties who might not otherwise have a path forward.
The James H. Faison, III Male Athlete of the Year Award at Pender High School is one visible symbol of this commitment — recognizing the same values of discipline and leadership that shaped his own life.
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Judge Faison and his wife Angela have founded and funded numerous scholarships supporting students in New Hanover and Pender Counties, including the Dr. Bertha Todd Educational Scholarship (New Hanover NAACP), the Mary Alice Jervay Thatch Educational Scholarship, the James H. Faison, Jr. & Mary R. Faison and Geraldine Gore Woodard Educational Scholarships (Pender NAACP), the Claudia Stack Educational Scholarship (Pender NAACP), the Willard Outreach Community Organization Educational Scholarship, and the 1865 Society scholarships bearing the Faison and Woodard family names.
They also provide funding for the James H. Faison, Jr. Educational Scholarship Award (founded by the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Commission, now VOYAGE), the Pender High School James H. Faison III Male Athlete of the Year Scholarship, the All Men’s March Christian Scholarship, and the Missionary Annie L. Matthews and Rev. Alfred Holston Scholarship, along with the Pender-Topsail Post & Voice newspaper’s Education Station. Judge Faison further supports scholarship opportunities at UNC-Wilmington, NC A&T, Shaw University, Winston-Salem State University, Cape Fear Community College, Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Kappa Alpha, the Williston Alumni Association, and the Hank Lattimore Foundation.
RECOGNIZED FOR SERVICE, LEADERSHIP, AND IMPACT
Honors & Recognition
Judge Faison’s life of service has been recognized across the legal community, education, athletics, ministry, and civic leadership. These honors reflect decades of commitment to fairness, opportunity, youth, families, and community.
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Additional honors include the Award of Appreciation from 100 Black Men of Coastal NC (2026), the Lifetime Achievement Award from the SE NC Black Leadership Caucus (2026), the District Attorney Service Above Self Rotary Club Award, the MLK Award from the New Hanover Chapter of the Black Leadership Caucus, the NAACP Preacher of the Year Award, the Gentleman of the Lower Cape Fear Award, the Ebony Men of Excellence Award, the Nelson Mandela Award from World Changing Hearts Ministries, the A. Phillip Randolph Award from the International Longshoremen’s Association, the Cape Fear Community Peace Award, the Man of the Year Award from the New Hanover County Democratic Party, the YMCA Black Achiever’s Leadership Award, the Wilmington Jaycees Distinguished Service Award, and the Community Service Award from the Winston-Salem State University Alumni. He is also recognized as a Fellow of the Institute of Theologians and has received service awards from the Kenansville Eastern Missionary Baptist Association, the Countywide CDC Humanities and Arts Committee, OOPS (Offering Optimistic Plans for Success), and the Lower Sampson Missionary Union.
Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame
Recognizing Judge Faison’s athletic excellence, leadership, and community impact.
Ballotpedia Public Profile
View Judge Faison’s public record and election profile through Ballotpedia.
Pender Schools Feature
Highlighting his continued investment in students, schools, and community impact.
JOIN THE CAMPAIGN
A Legacy of Service.
A Future of Fairness.
From the pulpit to the bench, from schools to community programs, Judge Faison continues to serve with integrity, compassion, faith, and a steady commitment to New Hanover and Pender Counties.