Mecklenburg judge resigns after being on unexplained leave for months

Michael Gordon
·2 min read

Mecklenburg County Superior Court Judge Casey Viser, who has been on leave from his duties for most of this year, has resigned effective Friday.

Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Carla Archie on Tuesday announced Viser’s departure in a message to the courthouse, where word of the judge’s resignation has been circulating for days.

Superior Court Judge Casey Viser will resign effective Friday, July 1, 2022. The Charlotte native was elected to an eight-year term in 2020, but will leave the bench after serving less than two years. He stepped away from his duties late last year without explanation.
Superior Court Judge Casey Viser will resign effective Friday, July 1, 2022. The Charlotte native was elected to an eight-year term in 2020, but will leave the bench after serving less than two years. He stepped away from his duties late last year without explanation.

“We appreciate Judge Viser’s service and wish him all the best in his future endeavors,” Archie wrote.

Viser did not respond to an email Tuesday from The Charlotte Observer seeking comment.

Viser, one of the county’s two Republicans on the Superior Court, was elected to an eight-year term in 2020, boosted by the creation of a south Mecklenburg district that was majority GOP.

But he stepped away from the bench — without explanation — months ago. Courthouse officials declined to say why.

According to two persons familiar with the process, Viser submitted a letter of resignation in early June to Gov. Roy Cooper, who will now pick a replacement. Viser’s letter did not include an explanation for his departure, sources say.

Viser, a Charlotte native, first joined the bench in 2013 when he was appointed by Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, to fill a District Court vacancy. He was defeated for re-election the next year.

McCrory again appointed Viser to the bench in 2015, this time as a special judge in Superior Court.

In 2020, he defeated former District Court judge Alicia Brooks to win his current seat.

Veteran Charlotte attorney George Laughrun says Viser’s years as a practicing attorney at James, McElroy and Diehl, prepared him for the bench.

“What I really liked about Judge Viser was his ability to listen,” Laughrun said. “He was a litigator before he was a judge. He tried a lot of cases. He had the ability to really gauge a person’s credibility, and that’s a gift for a judge.”

This is a developing story.