Robert "Bert" Carl Kemp

Biography

Bert Kemp was born in Henderson, North Carolina on May 13, 1971. He was raised in Oxford, North Carolina where he graduated valedictorian from Oxford Webb High School. He received his B.A. degree in Economics in 1993 from UNC-Chapel Hill and J.D. in 1996 from Wake Forest University School of Law.

He is a former Assistant District Attorney in Pitt County (Greenville, N.C.) and joined the Pitt County Public Defender’s Office in 2001, as an assistant public defender. He became Chief Pitt County Public Defender in June of 2007 and continues to serve in this capacity.

Bert is past president of both the Pitt County Bar Association and Judicial District 3A Bar. He is past Criminal Justice Section Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association and is past President of the North Carolina Public Defender Association.

He is currently a North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Specialist in the area of State Criminal Law and is a past Criminal Law Specialty Committee Chair.

As a member of the North Carolina National Guard, Bert holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Judge Advocates General Corps. He completed two tours in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and graduated Army War College in 2020 with a Masters in Strategic Studies. LTC Kemp is currently a certified, State Military Judge.

Lastly, Bert is honored to be a current member of the North Carolina Courts Commission, the Governor’s Crime Commission, the Chief Justice’s Equal Access to Justice Commission, and a past member of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism.

Bert resides in Greenville, NC with his beautiful wife, two wonderful children, a dog, and two guinea pigs.