Alleghany marks new milestone for Winner

Judge Dennis J. Winner chose Alleghany County to complete a personal goal he set several years ago.

Winner presided over Alleghany Superior Criminal Court last week, making him one of only five judges to hold court in all 100 North Carolina counties.

A native of Asheville, he is senior resident superior court judge in Buncombe County. "I've had an unusual career. I've been a judge twice," he said.

Winner explained that he was elected district court judge in 1970 at age 28. In 1972, he was appointed to fill out two years and eight months of a term as a special superior court judge. During that period, he held court in 62 different counties.

After that, he left the bench and was in private practice in Buncombe County for 19 years. For 12 of those years, he was also a state senator.

When he returned to the bench in 1994, he decided to try to complete the 100-county distinction, a majority of which he already had under his belt.

"It was kind of a goal, I don't know why," commented Winner. "It was not the first thing I had done like that."

Another checklist-type objective involved one of his favorite pursuits, hiking. In June he completed hiking all the mountain trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That project encompassed 30 years. "Once I got to 60 percent, I decided to hike them all," he said. "I don't know what it is in me that makes me want to set these goals."

As for completing the set of county courts, Winner said, "When I got down to about eight or 10 counties left, I made a conscious decision that I wanted Alleghany County to be the 100th one.