Brad Allen Removed

Alamance County Chief District Court Judge Brad Allen was removed from his chief judgeship by North Carolina Chief Justice Paul Newby, who replaced him with Judge Katie Overby, after Allen allegedly arrived visibly inebriated at a bar association Christmas party on December 9, 2023, and inappropriately touched several women who were present. The North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission opened an investigation into the conduct.

Allen, who had served as Alamance County's chief district judge since 2014, retired from the bench entirely while that investigation was still active.

A sitting judge doesn't lose an administrative leadership post over ordinary holiday-party overindulgence — the Chief Justice's decision to remove him from the chief judgeship, followed by his own retirement while state investigators were still looking into what happened, reflects allegations serious enough to end his judicial career.