The Hon. Pauline Hankins is a judge for the 13th Judicial District Court of North Carolina. She was elected to the bench in 2012.
The 13th Judicial District includes Bladen, Brunswick, and Columbus Counties.
Prior to her election, Hankins operated her own private practice on her family’s land in Bolivia since 2000. During that time, she served as a court appointed attorney in Juvenile Delinquent, Juvenile DSS, Child Support, and Criminal Court. Hankins was also a certified arbitrator and a per diem assistant district attorney.
She received a B.S. in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University in 1991. Hankins then completed a J.D. at North Carolina Central University School of Law in 1994. She was admitted to practice in North Carolina (1994) and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (1995).
Hankins was appointed by the North Carolina Senate to serve as a member of the North Carolina African-American Heritage Commission. She is also a past president of the Brunswick County Bar Association and has been involved with the Criminal Justice Partnership Program, Waves-4-Kids, the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, Jubilee Outreach, Communities in School, and Brunswick Senior Resource, Inc.
Hankins was awarded the North Carolina Governor’s Award for Volunteer Service in 2011.
One of thirteen siblings, she was raised on her family’s farm in Bolivia, North Carolina. The land owned by her family was originally purchased by her great-great-grandfather, Zach Hankins, in 1873. He had worked its fields as a slave prior to purchasing the 300 acres with money that he saved. Following his death, the land was divided into 9 parcels, one of which was sold back to the county to house the courthouse and government complex, where Hankins now presides.
She attended South Brunswick High School. Hankins teaches Vacation Bible School at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church and hosts a Women’s Fellowship every third Saturday morning in her home.
Hankins is registered as a Republican.