Candidate Biography (submitted by candidate):

I have been a resident of Wake County since 1967 and graduated from Cary High School.

My wife Valerie (Val) Brandon Nagle and I have been married for 22 years.  We are the proud parents of our daughter Caroline, a graduate of North Raleigh Christian Academy and a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  We are members of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Raleigh.

I served for 28 years as a law enforcement officer with the Wake County Sheriff’s Office where I worked with victims, citizens, community groups, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the courts to resolve individual and community problems.  I responded to complaints, investigated criminal offenses ranging from "hubcaps to homicide," led our juvenile investigations unit, and served with Teen Court and on the Governor's Child Protection and Child Fatality Prevention Teams.  Along the way, I rose through the ranks to the top position of major serving on the leadership team for both the late Sheriff John H. Baker, Jr. and our current Sheriff Donnie Harrison.

While working full-time with the Sheriff's Office, I obtained my degree in Justice Studies at North Carolina Wesleyan College and interned with the law firm of Hatch, Little and Bunn.  After retiring, I earned my Juris Doctor at North Carolina Central University.  While there, I interned with the North Carolina Supreme Court, the Wake County District Attorney's Office, and the Wake County Public Defender's Office.  After graduating and passing the bar, I accepted employment at the Wake County District Attorney's Office.

As a prosecutor, I am in the courtroom all day, every day disposing of more than one hundred cases a day by plea or trial, taking into account the best interest of the community, the best interest of the victim, and the best interest of the defendant.

I have served you for over thirty years: first as a volunteer fireman, next as a law enforcement officer, and currently as a prosecutor.  I ask for your vote so I may continue to serve you. 

I am running for district court judge because I have a strong sense of justice and a passion for public service and the law.  My experience as both law enforcement officer and prosecutor uniquely qualify me to serve you in this role.

District court is the peoples' court handling a multitude of issues, including: traffic, driving while impaired, misdemeanor crimes, juvenile abuse, neglect and delinquency, divorce, equitable distribution, child custody and visitation, and lawsuits up to ten thousand dollars. 

As district court judge, it will be my job to hear the facts of the case or controversy, to rule on questions of law and the admissibility of evidence, to faithfully apply the law as it is written by the legislature and not as you or I wish it to be, and to render a decision that is fair and impartial to all parties. I pledge to you I will strictly follow the rule of law, and I will be fair and impartial as I fulfill the duties and responsibilities to which I will have sworn to uphold, and I will treat all who come before my court with patience, dignity and respect.

Past performance is the best predictor of future performance.

Throughout my career as law enforcement officer and prosecutor, I earned a solid reputation as firm, fair, and impartial, and you can trust I will continue to exercise sound judgment and judicial restraint in the administration of justice. 

Put my unique experience and my passion for the law to work for you and allow me the privilege to continue to serve you.