District Attorney Valerie Asbell and her staff were sworn in this morning in the superior courtroom in Halifax.

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The administering of the oath of office comes after winning the November general election in an unopposed race and a contested race in the May primary.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be re-elected as the district attorney for Prosecutorial District 7 which serves Bertie, Halifax, Hertford and Northampton counties,” said Asbell in a statement. "Today marks the sixth time that I have been sworn in as the elected district attorney. I am especially grateful that my Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Alma Hinton performed the swearing-in ceremony for me and my assistant district attorneys.”

Asbell said, “First of all, I want to thank God who has blessed my life with opportunities beyond measure. I want to thank my family who were so patient and supportive during this election and for the past 18 and a half years as I have served as the district attorney. While I am the person who was elected, the success of our office really belongs to the many dedicated, skilled and fearless professionals of my staff with whom I work on a daily basis.”

Assistant district attorneys are: Justin Byrd, Charlie Cole, Lisa Coltrain, David Lampert, John Lohman, Kanter S. Morris; Kim Scott, Rena Spellman, Keith E. Werner and Roger Echols. The administrative assistant is Je’Nen Thorpe.

Asbell said she was thankful and appreciative of the confidence of the voters in all four counties. “Having four very big counties is not an easy task and the last four years have been hard but very rewarding.”

She said, “Our office was able to reduce the backlog of homicide cases that were pending in Halifax County when I took office in 2014 while also continuing to handle the heavy caseloads in all four counties. Although I have served Bertie, Hertford and Northampton Counties longer than Halifax, Halifax has become a second home to me. I look forward to continuing to serve all four counties with the same passion and enthusiasm. My priority is and will continue to be to serve victims of crime.”