ROCKINGHAM — As the new district attorney for Richmond, Anson and Scotland counties, Jamie Adams is ready to figuratively fill the shoes of her predecessor.
Gov. Roy Cooper announced last week that Adams, who served as chief assistant district attorney for Prosecutorial District 21, has been appointed to take the place of the now-retired Reece Saunders, was in the role for more than a decade.
Saunders made the recommendation for Adams’ appointment.
“She’s the real deal,” Saunders said about Adams. “Anybody that has any doubt about that, just come to the courtroom.”
Adams said she felt “pure excitement” when she learned of the appointment.
“Jamie is an experienced prosecutor and is prepared to step into her new role,” the governor said in a press release. “She will serve the people of this district with distinction and I am grateful for her service to her community.”
Adams was sworn in during a special session of Richmond County Superior Court on Wednesday, Oct. 7, with family, friends and others in the judicial community packing the courtroom, as well as fellow members of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc clad in red.
The oath was administered by Resident Superior Court Judge Stephan Futrell.
“There are actually no words for the way I feel right now,” Adams said after the ceremony. “It’s kind of been a culmination of my life, my career — and to see everybody in here that’s had a part of that … every step of the way that they’ve been there for me, it’s monumental for me.”
Although she’s a native of Detroit, Michigan, Adams said she considers North Carolina home.
Adams earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her juris doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.
She said she decided to become a prosecutor because “we’re bully slayers.”
“I want to take care of the most vulnerable people in our community — that’s children, the elderly — and that is the role of a prosecutor,” said Adams. “A lot of people don’t realize that because sometimes they look at it as…we’re just the people that are sending people to prison.
“No no no no, we’re here …without our law enforcement partners, to keep the community safe. That is our primary goal and that’s what we will continue to do.”
Before coming to Prosecutorial District 21 (Richmond, Anson and Scotland counties), Adams was an assistant district attorney in Mecklenburg, Catawba, Burke and Caldwell counties.
But throughout her career, Adams said she hasn’t seen the level of violent crime that is in this district.
According to information compiled by Carolina Forward, Scotland County had the third-highest crime rate in the state — behind Robeson and Edgecomb — and Richmond County had the fourth, in 2022.
Scotland and Anson counties are tied for the state’s third-highest average homicide rate of 22.6 per 100,000. Richmond is seventh with 17 per 100,000.
A search of online records on Oct. 7 showed 23 defendants charged with murder being held in the Richmond County Jail, dating back to 2017.
Adams moved to Laurinburg when she came to this district in 2021 and said she heard gunfire from her home “every single night.”
“I said, ‘Whoa, I’ve got to move,” Adams recalled. “But then I thought to myself…’Wait a minute, there are people in this community that can’t afford to just pick up and move.’ So I have to consider that in all of my decisions and everything that I do, that I have to make sure that I am helping to ensure safety of our residents so that they won’t have to be ducking and jumping under their beds at night when they hear those gunshots.”
In addition to safety, Adams said she plans to focus on developing the younger prosecutors, “so that one day, they can do the same thing, so that we’ll always have a continuity of people that can take this role and go forward and treat people with dignity and respect that they deserve when they come into the courthouse.”
That respect, Adams said, is something she’s mirrored from Saunders.
There are currently nine assistant district attorneys and three open positions, Adams said.
Part of Adams’ crime-fighting strategy is to be more involved with the community.
Just two days after she was sworn in, the DA’s office hosted a group of students from Ashley Chapel Educational Center to explain the criminal justice system.
The goal, she said, was for the students to “spend time with us when we’re not in an adversarial situation.”
“We want to try to get in front of the issue so that we don’t see them in front of us in a point in time where there’s not a lot that can be done to assist them,” Adams said. “We are actually not only better together, we are at our best when we are together.”
Saunders, a Rockingham High School graduate, earned his law degree from the Wake Forest School of Law in 1977.
In addition to being in private practice, Saunders served as a district court judge in the ‘80s.
Saunders was first elected as DA in 2010 and won each subsequent reelection, with the district going through several changes during his time in office. He ran unopposed in the last election.
“It’s just my time,” Saunders said about his decision to retire in the middle of a term.
“I had a job, a good job, the people gave it to me,” Saunders said. “I’ve enjoyed doing it.”
Adams presented Saunders with a plaque for his years of service to the judicial community.
The district attorney seat is up for reelection in 2026.
Editor’s Note (Oct. 7, 2024): Spelling error corrected.
