Chapel Hill Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos has announced his pending retirement.

Karpinos was appointed Chapel Hill Town Attorney in the fall of 1985. Currently, he is the longest serving full-time in house municipal attorney in North Carolina.  Before serving the Chapel Hill community, Karpinos was an assistant city attorney for the City of Winston-Salem from 1978 to 1985.

Mayor Pam Hemminger reported the news to the Council at its February 19 business meeting. The Town Attorney and the Town Manager are the only two staff positions that report directly to the Council.

“We will miss having Ralph available to provide the history behind important town and state decisions,” Hemminger said. “And, we are grateful for the passion he has brought to his work.”

During his career in local government law, Karpinos has worked on more than 20 cases in the North Carolina appellate courts.  According to a Town of Chapel Hill press release, he has served with eight Chapel Hill mayors, five Chapel Hill Town Managers and more than 50 Chapel Hill Town Council members since 1985.

With Karpinos’s retirement on the horizon, Hemminger said the town council has begun the process to choose the next Town Attorney.

Karpinos said he is looking forward to helping the council and staff facilitate a smooth transition as he prepares to leave.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to be able to serve as the Chapel Hill Town Attorney and to work with such an exceptional and talented group of elected officials and Town staff and a community of thoughtful and creative residents,” Karpinos said.

Karpinos was born in Washington and grew up in suburban Maryland. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from Duke University and a law degree is from the University of South Carolina.

For more information on Karpinos’s retirement, visit the town website.

(Photo courtesy of the Town of Chapel Hill)

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