DA Andrew Murray

District Attorney
Andrew Murray

Henderson, Polk & Transylvania County

Prosecutorial District 42

(828) 694-4212
Henderson County Courthouse 200 N. Grove Street
Suite 223
Hendersonville, NC 28792
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About Your District Attorney

The District Attorney for the Forty-Second Prosecutorial District is Andrew Murray

Thank you for visiting the informational website of the District Attorneys’ Office in Prosecutorial District 42, which encompasses all of Henderson, Polk and Transylvania Counties, North Carolina.  It is the duty of this office to represent the State with integrity and professionalism, while protecting victims and their rights, in the pursuit of justice. 

The goal of this site is to make the information and services provided by the District Attorneys’ Office and the criminal justice system available to the public. Please take the time to search each webpage and explore all of the information we have provided you. Should you have any questions, we have also included details on how you may contact us.

“District Attorney” commonly refers to an attorney for the community elected by the people in his/her district to represent the interests of the general public, including crime victims in court proceedings against people accused of committing crimes. Other jurisdictions use various terms: Prosecutor, U.S. Attorney (a federal prosecutor), Solicitor, or State’s Attorney.

The primary duty of the District Attorney is to prosecute all criminal cases filed in the district. The District Attorney represents the state in all criminal and some juvenile matters. In addition, the District Attorney is responsible for preparing the criminal trial docket and advising law enforcement officers in the district.

Andrew Murray was appointed in May 2021, as District Attorney for North Carolina’s 42nd Prosecutorial District, which includes Henderson, Transylvania, and Polk Counties. As District Attorney, Mr. Murray oversees state criminal cases within his jurisdiction, supervises Assistant District Attorneys and support staff, and advises local law enforcement.

Prior to his appointment as District Attorney, Mr. Murray served as the Presidentially-appointed United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Mr. Murray was nominated by President Donald Trump on September 11, 2017, and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on November 9, 2017. He began serving as U.S Attorney on November 27, 2017.

As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Murray led one of the busiest U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the country, serving nearly three million residents throughout the 32 westernmost counties of the state of North Carolina, including residents of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian reservation. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Murray supervised a staff of approximately 80 federal prosecutors and support staff, located in Charlotte and in Asheville. As the top federal law enforcement officer in the Western North Carolina, Mr. Murray was responsible for overseeing the prosecution of all criminal cases brought by the federal government in U.S. District Court, the prosecution and defense of civil cases in which the United States was a party, and the collection of debts owed to the federal government. Prior to becoming the United States Attorney, Mr. Murray served as the elected District Attorney of North Carolina’s 26th Prosecutorial District, which covers all of Mecklenburg County.

A lifelong public servant, Mr. Murray began his law career in 1992 at the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office, where he served for three years as an Assistant District Attorney, working on several special prosecution teams. Mr. Murray went on to practice law in the private sector, as defense attorney and later as managing partner of a law firm focusing on criminal law.

Mr. Murray’s passion for public service and his desire to give back to the community led him back to the District Attorney’s Office. He was elected as District Attorney for Mecklenburg County in 2010, and was re-elected to the position in 2014. As District Attorney, Mr. Murray focused his efforts on incorporating innovative strategies and forging strong partnerships to ensure the efficient and effective prosecution of state cases in his district.

As a senior attorney practicing law in North Carolina since 1992, Mr. Murray has a wide breadth of knowledge and experience in leadership and criminal law. He is also a recognized leader in the state and national prosecutorial communities, having served as a member of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys’ executive committee, and as the Conference’s President from 2015 to 2016. 

Mr. Murray was also selected to join the North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice, a multidisciplinary group tasked with conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the State’s judicial system and making recommendations to strengthen the State’s courts. As a member of the Board for the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys’ Major County Prosecutors Council, Mr. Murray worked with district attorneys from across the nation to tackle challenges faced by prosecutors.

Mr. Murray is also a retired United States Coast Guardsman. He joined the United States Coast Guard in 1980, and continued to serve the United States through the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, following his separation from active service. After 35 years of combined active and reserve military service, Mr. Murray retired from the U.S. Coast Guard as a Captain (O-6).

Mr. Murray attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he earned a degree in Political Science in 1989. Mr. Murray received his Juris Doctor in 1992, from the University of North Carolina School of Law. Mr. Murray is a devoted husband, father and grandfather.