Judge Ty Hands

Position on the bench allows Mecklenburg jurist to advocate for at-risk youths

There are self-made men, but in what is sometimes called a “man’s world,” being a self-made woman is perhaps more noteworthy.

Ty Hands’ formative years provided lessons in adversity. She lost her mother at a young age and didn’t meet her father until almost two decades later. Yet she became the first in her family to finish college, working multiple jobs and graduating magna cum laude from Winston-Salem State University. Then she earned her juris doctor from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law. After working as a lawyer, Hands was reelected as a Mecklenburg County District Court judge last fall. She brings much more than her legal experience to the bench while presiding over domestic violence, criminal, child support, first appearance and civil cases.

Hands’ early life experiences fueled her passion for helping at-risk youth. “There’s a big problem right now with inequities in a number of areas,” she says, “ including education and economic situations that are putting a lot of our youth at risk. We are doing a great deal to address it, but I don’t know that we are doing enough.”

Hands is contributing to the solution via her work with the truancy court and a diversion program for students at Walter G. Byers Elementary School, an initiative to help parents whose children have missed more than 10 days of school avoid prosecution. “We have an opportunity to be proactive and help figure out how we can work together with each family to get them back on track,” she says. “It’s quickly becoming very valuable to me on a personal level.”

Also valuable is her work as the lead domestic violence judge in Mecklenburg County. Hands chairs several domestic violence advisory boards, and she and her colleagues recently received training on the planned Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange Center for which Mecklenburg County received a federal grant.

Hands feels equally passionate about her work with the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring organization. “You’re able to forge relationships with young folks you would not otherwise ever come across,” she says. Hands remains in close contact with her last “little sister” and wonders where she herself would be today without mentors.

Hands is married to attorney David Hands, with whom she has two young children. With so many accomplishments and participation in so many community organizations, Hands nonetheless has no trouble naming her most prized accomplishment: “Having my family,” she says. “My children are my No. 1 priority.”