Newly Retired Chief Public Defender Cynthia “Cindy” Black (Cumberland County) was honored at the 2025 North Carolina Bar Association annual awards dinner.
The Criminal Justice Section of the NCBA awarded the recipients of the 2025 Peter S. Gilchrist III & Wade M. Smith Awards on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at Embassy Suites in Cary.
Ms. Black received the Wade M. Smith Award. The Wade M. Smith Award is presented annually to a defense attorney who exemplifies the highest ideals and professionalism, has an exemplary record and reputation within the legal community, abides by the highest ethical standards, and has been an active, positive force inside and outside the courtroom in working to improve the criminal justice system.
She had this to say about her award:
I am very thankful that the Bar Association recognized the work of a public defender. But I think that the work I have done is reflective of that of most of my public defender brethren. Truly, it was a profound honor to be recognized. And right on the heels of that are tremendous humility and extreme gratitude.
Connie Jordan, retired ADA from New Hanover County, received the Peter S. Gilchrist III Award. (The Peter S. Gilchrist III Award is given annually to honor a prosecutor.)