On July 1, 2024, A. Traynham Dorn was sworn in as the Inaugural Chief Public Defender for Johnston County, by the Honorable Thomas H. Lock, Senior Resident Superior Court Judge for Judicial District 13.
Traynham took the oath of office in Courtroom 4, the Old Superior Courtroom, of the Johnston County Courthouse, with her husband, son and mother by her side. A reception followed the ceremony.
The office for Defender District 13 was to be established July 1, 2024, by way of the 2023 Appropriations Act, to serve Johnston County. Traynham has spent the last several months winding down the workload in private practice and recruiting staff to serve Johnston County.
Traynham is a native of Flat Rock, North Carolina—the historic part of Hendersonville in the mountains. Having shadowed a local criminal defense attorney while a student at East Henderson High School, Traynham knew early on she wanted to become an attorney.
In 2000, Traynham earned a B.A. degree and pre-law minor from Queens College in Charlotte; while there, she completed a semester-long internship with the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office in their domestic violence unit. She graduated in 2003 with a Juris Doctor from the New England School of Law in Boston, Mass. While attending law school, she completed an internship with the local public defender’s office.
Upon moving back to North Carolina in 2003 and becoming licensed to practice law here, she spent some time in a satellite office of Attorney Christina Rivenbark in Garner, handling traffic and misdemeanors in Wake and Johnston counties, and indigent cases for Johnston County.
She opened her own practice in 2005 handling privately retained cases, as well as indigent defense work in adult criminal traffic, misdemeanor, and felony matters. She served as Guardian ad Litem in Chapter 35 Special Proceedings, and she has some juvenile/youth delinquency case experience as well.
About her appointment she had this to say:
I am truly humbled that the Honorable Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Thomas H. Lock appointed me to be Johnston County’s first Public Defender. The weight of that responsibility does not go unnoticed, and I will rise to the challenge.
I have spent the last 20 years in private practice in Johnston County getting to know the members of this community. It is my honor to be able to represent them as the Chief Public Defender. I look forward to building a team of attorneys and support staff whose goal is to provide zealous legal representation to the indigent community of Johnston County.
Johnston County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state and with that comes the need for a more centralized office that can provide legal representation to the indigent community. Johnston County already has many knowledgeable and experienced attorneys. It is my goal that the new Johnston County Public Defender’s Office will be an additional resource to the people who need our legal representation.
Traynham resides in Clayton with her husband, Anthony Locklear, and son, Caden.