Kristin H. Ruth is a former state district court judge in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, who served District 10 (

Wake County Wake County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most-populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake County was the 9th-fastest growing county in the U ...

). Ruth was the senior partner in her law firm for seven years before being elected to the bench in 1998. She was re-elected to four-year terms in 2002 and in 2006. She was elected as a vice president of the North Carolina Bar Association in 2010. Party affiliation is Democrat.

Education

Ruth is a graduate of

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

and the

Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law The Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law (also known as Campbell Law School or Campbell University School of Law) is a private law school in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1976, the law school is one of six graduate programs ...

Campbell University Campbell University is a private Baptist university in Buies Creek, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (Southern Baptist Convention). Southern Baptist ConventionColleges and Universities sbc.n ...

Court of Appeals race

In 2007, she announced that she would run for the

North Carolina Court of Appeals The North Carolina Court of Appeals (in case citation, N.C. Ct. App.) is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating panels of three. The Court of Appeals was create ...

seat then held by John Tyson in the 2008 elections. In the May 6, 2008 non-partisan primary, Ruth came in second, which qualified her to run in the November general election against Sam J. Ervin, IV. Ervin defeated Ruth in the general election.

Resignation

In February 2012, the

North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is a state-level law enforcement agency in North Carolina. Background The SBI provides investigative assistance to local law enforcement agencies when requested by police, sheriffs, distric ...

opened a probe into the handling of 12 drunken driving cases by Ruth. Ruth failed to review unusual orders submitted by an attorney changing the effective dates when judgments were entered, shortening or eliminating the suspension of drivers' licenses; and in each of the 12 cases the defense attorney was James Crouch, a Wake County criminal lawyer. Ruth resigned as a result of the investigation on May 18, 2012. She was later indicted for "failure to discharge her duties."Ex-Wake judge, attorney charged with altering records in DWI cases
WRAL (2012-06-26). Retrieved on 2012-08-29. On July 30, 2012, she pleaded guilty for failing to discharge her duties as a Judge.

References

Kansas State University alumni North Carolina state court judges Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American women judges 21st-century American women {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub