Pate puts in bid for Superior Court seat
By Staff Reports
Published in News on December 6, 2015 3:05 AM
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Imelda Pate
Imelda Pate of LaGrange, a longtime prosecutor in Greene and Lenoir counties, filed Tuesday with the State Board of Elections for the open District 8-A Superior Court judgeship.
The judgeship is being vacated by retiring Superior Court Judge Paul L. Jones, who announced in October, he would not seek another eight-year term.
A Kinston native, Ms. Pate works in the Lenoir County prosecutor's office.
"For more than 30 years, I have been honored to serve the people of Greene, Lenoir and Wayne Counties as a prosecutor," Ms. Pate said. "I have spent my legal career working in and around the courtroom prosecuting major drug, felony and murder cases. I have been the voice for those who didn't have a voice -- standing up for the victims of crime."
The filing period for the March 15 primary opened at noon Tuesday and will close at noon on Dec. 21.
Ms. Pate said her background and experience in the courtroom have prepared her to serve on the Superior Court bench.
"I will always remember that the courthouse belongs to the people," she said. "As your next judge, I will serve with honor, character and integrity. I will follow the rule of law and I will uphold the North Carolina Constitution and the United States Constitution."
In 2002, Ms. Pate was appointed as a special assistant United States attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh.
In this position she has assisted in multi-level local, state and federal investigations and the prosecution of upper level drug traffickers in the federal courts of the Eastern District of North Carolina.
"It has been a true honor for me to work with multiple law enforcement agencies fighting the war on crime," she said. "My work with the federal courts has made an impact and I will take that knowledge and experience with me to the Superior Court."
For the past 20 years Ms. Pate has been an instructor for the North Carolina Conference of District Attorney's providing statewide education and training for attorney's and law enforcement officers in North Carolina.
She has also been an instructor with the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the National Advocacy Center previously located on the campus of the University of South Carolina, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Mississippi State Prosecutor's Office and Campbell University's Norman A. Wiggins School of Law.
Ms. Pate presently serves as a non-partisan appointed member of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorney's Best Practices Committee to work on how to improve and address emerging issues that affect our court system.
Ms. Pate is a member of the North Carolina State Bar, North Carolina Conference of District Attorney's, Lenoir County Bar Association, Eastern Inn of Court and the Greene and Lenoir Counties Juvenile Crime Prevention Council.
She is a Paul Harris Fellow with Kinston Evening Rotary and have been active as a board member for several local nonprofit and charitable organizations serving our elderly populations, homeless families, and children. These include: the Salvation Army, The GATE of Lenoir County and SAFE of Lenoir and Greene counties.
Ms. Pate is a member of Queen Street United Methodist Church and the Queen Street Methodist Church Choir and presently serve as church council chairperson.
Ms. Pate is a graduate of North Carolina State University and holds a law degree from the Norman A. Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University.
"My father, Jarvis W. Pate, spent his career as a police officer with the Kinston Police Department," she said. "He retired after 30 years of service to the citizens of Kinston as assistant chief of police. My mother, Jean S. Pate, is from LaGrange and was employed with First Citizens Bank in Kinston as their customer service representative. My parents taught me the meaning of hard work and the importance of faith, family and community."