Judge Rickye McKoy-Mitchell is a native of Dunn, North Carolina. She received both her Bachelor of Arts Degree and Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the UNC-CH School of Law. She was a James M. Johnston Scholar and a member of the Order of the Valkyries. She is a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, among the most prestigious awards presented by the Governor of North Carolina to individuals who have a proven record of extraordinary service to the state. At the time that Judge McKoy-Mitchell was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 1980 as an undergraduate, she was and still is one of the youngest persons ever to have received the award.
Mecklenburg County’s longest-serving District Court Judge, Judge McKoy-Mitchell served as a District Court Judge in the 26th Judicial District for almost 24 years. Judge McKoy-Mitchell also served as a member of School Justice Partnership Co-Chair, the Mayor’s Youth Employment Advisory Board Member, Race Matters for Juvenile Justice Leadership Team Member and Chair of its Youth Initiative, and as a member of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges’ Domestic Violence Institutes Faculty. Prior to becoming a Judge, Judge McKoy-Mitchell practiced in both the criminal and civil areas of law at both the state and federal court levels.
Judge McKoy-Mitchell is an active member of the Mecklenburg County Bar, previously serving as co-chair of both the Diversity & Inclusion Committee and its Pipeline Subcommittee, on which she still serves; served on MCB’s Board of Directors; past Alumni Association Board of Directors for the UNC-CH School of Law; and past Board of Visitors for UNC. She is the Judicial Liaison for the Leary Bar Association; member of the Charlotte Women’s Bar of the NC Association of Women Attorneys (NCAWA) and former member of the Board of Governors of NCAWA; member of the NC Association of Black Lawyers; and member of the National Association of Women Judges.
Additionally, she is a member of the Women Executives; The Links, Incorporated; Jack and Jill of America; Junior League of Charlotte; Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County; and former Deacon and Youth & Young Adult Church Leader and current Board of Directors Member for her Church, Mount Carmel Baptist Church. She is a Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and was recognized as Delta of the Year. She established the Charlotte Alumnae Chapter’s Excellence in Youth program, which was renamed in her honor.
As one of her nominators wrote: “Judge McKoy-Mitchell is a person of impeccable integrity, ethics and compassion. Judge McKoy-Mitchell truly “sees faces, not just cases.” She treats others with dignity, respect and kindness and she inspires others to do the same. When facing a legal or moral dilemma, many of her colleagues have pondered WWRD?, ‘What would Rickye do?’” It is for these reasons and many more that we are delighted to award Judge McKoy-Mitchell the 2022-23 Ayscue Professionalism Award.
Pictured left to right: Hon. C. Renee Little (left) presented the Ayscue Professionalism Award to Hon. Rickye McKoy-Mitchell at the Law & Society Luncheon on December 1, 2022.