District Court Judge Tim Smith already had a tough primary race. Events in recent days are likely to make the race even tougher:

A District Court judge from the area was charged Friday in Jones County with driving while impaired, according to the Highway Patrol.

Judge Timothy Smith of Duplin County was traveling west on N.C. 41 just outside of Trenton around 2 p.m. when he was initially stopped by a deputy with the Jones County Sheriff’s Office for alleged erratic driving, said Trooper Leland Galetka.

“A deputy driving behind a car driving erratically initiated a traffic stop; they had reason to believe the driver may be impaired and requested the Highway Patrol’s assistance,” Galetka said.

Galetka said after he arrived he did a standard impaired driver investigation, which includes a roadside sobriety test.

Galetka said it was determined Smith was allegedly impaired by a substance other than alcohol. The type of substance is unknown until results of bloodwork come back.

Smith was taken before the magistrate in Jones County and released to the custody of a family member. A court date of April 3 has been set for the misdemeanor DWI charge.

Smith was appointed to the bench serving the Fourth Judicial District for Onslow, Jones, Duplin and Sampson counties by N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper, according to an April 2019 post on N.C. Courts. […]