New district judge Heath Nance ready to continue serving community in new role

BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) — In late September, Governor Roy Cooper appointed Heath Nance as the new District Judge for Bladen, Brunswick, and Columbus Counties.

A native of Columbus County, Nance has always felt the need to serve and help others.

He first began in healthcare, majoring in public health at UNC Chapel Hill, and would work at a hospital in Chapel Hill for four years.

His interest in the law began while working there.

“I worked in the department of patient relations, which was a department that I worked as an advocate for patients and I worked with risk management, which is a department of attorneys,” Nance said. “And I worked closely with them so my interest would probably say sparked at that time with the law and talking to some of them about law school, decided that was something I wanted to pursue.”

Nance was appointed after spending the past 10 years as chief assistant district attorney for North Carolina’s 15th prosecutorial district.

“It came to me as a new way to serve my community,” Nance said. “And that’s really, again, what my career, my career has been so far, is serving my community. It’s been exciting to serve it in this new way and be able to serve the citizens of all three counties in this new role. And I just look forward to being here and continuing to do so. Its important to know the public you serve and be in tune with the community.”

Nance began his term on October 1st and while he spent most of his career prosecuting criminal cases, he won’t be able to preside over any criminal cases until next April.

He will serve out the remainder of the term started by the Honorable Ashley Gore, who was appointed as a Superior Court Judge for Bladen and Columbus counties. He plans to run for re-election next year.