The Hon. Sandra A. Ray is a judge for the 5th Judicial District Court of North Carolina. She was elected to the bench in 2004.
The 5th Judicial District encompasses New Hanover County and Pender County.
Prior to her election, Ray was a sole practitioner in her own private practice, a law firm she opened in 2002.
Ray earned a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University in 1987. She then completed a J.D. at Campbell University, Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, in 1991.
After graduating from law school, Ray began her legal career as an assistant district attorney in the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. She served in that capacity until 1996, at which time she entered into private practice at Jackson, Rivenbark & Slaughter. Ray supplemented her practice with service as a part-time assistant district attorney for the 13th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Her memberships have included the Lower Cape Fear Republican Women’s Club, the USS NC Battleship Commission, and the New Hanover County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council. She has also been involved with the New Hanover County Commission for Women, the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, the Wilmington Central Rotary, the Board of Directors of Airlie Gardens, the Board of the New Hanover County Criminal Justice Partnership, and the Board of the Cape Fear Museum.
Ray was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and raised in Warsaw, North Carolina, and Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. She is a single mother of three children. The family attends Little Chapel on the Boardwalk at Wrightsville Beach.
She is registered as a Republican.