The Hon. J. Derham Cole is a judge for the 7th Judicial Circuit Court of South Carolina. He was elected to the bench by the South Carolina General Assembly on February 5, 1992.
The 7th Judicial Circuit includes Spartanburg and Cherokee Counties.
Prior to his election, Cole began a partnership alongside Claude A. Taylor, Jr. in 1985 and was elected to serve as a member of the South Carolina General Assembly in 1987, representing Spartanburg County House District #32 in the South Carolina House of Representatives. As a legislator, Cole served as a member of the South Carolina House Judiciary Committee and its Criminal Laws Subcommittee. He was also vice chairman of the Internal Security Committee, chairman of the Spartanburg County House Delegation, and vice chairman of the Spartanburg County Legislative Delegation.
He received a B.A. in government and public administration from the University of South Carolina in 1974. Cole then completed a J.D. at the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1976. He was admitted to practice in South Carolina in 1977.
He was appointed to serve as a member of the Judicial Conduct Commission.
Cole was born in Spartanburg, North Carolina, where he graduated from Spartanburg High School. He and his wife, Candace, have three children. The family attends Saint John’s Lutheran Church.
He is registered as a Republican.