After 39 years in public service, New Hanover County attorney Wanda Copley is retiring. Reflecting on her four decades in serving municipal government, she takes pride in her contributions to the county.
 
The South Carolina native moved to New Hanover County with her husband when he took a job as a professor of finance at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and she began working for the county.
 
Copley credits her predecessor with helping her to establish herself.
 
“It was Bob Pope, the county attorney, who gave me a chance and taught me everything I know,” Copley said. 
 
When Pope retired in 1992, Copley was named the county government’s attorney and began her service as the first female county attorney to be appointed in North Carolina. 
 
“Some say I have the longest service, but I don’t know if that is a compliment and I do not know if it’s true,” Copley joked. 
 
What Copley does know is how proud she is of the work she has done to lead the way on many important issues. 
 
“I look at New Hanover County, and we were one of the first in many items. We were the first county to restrict smoking. When you used to be able to smoke in restaurants, we required restaurants to do different ventilation in designated smoking areas, which protected the nonsmokers in all restaurants,” Copley said. 
 
Hitting various milestones before other counties adopted similar practices is a source of satisfaction for Copley. 
 
“Our health department treated AIDS patients before there were drugs available and people were dying from the disease. We had the very first doctors who would treat AIDS patients,” Copley shared. “Then we became one of the few counties with a pandemic department because of COVID.” 
 
Copley believes that the county made the best of an unprecedented situation with its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
“We made lemonade from the lemons of COVID. We didn’t have a handbook on how to deal with it and we did it,” Copley said. “It enabled us to work more efficiently with video calls and remote working.
 
“New Hanover County has been on the forefront on every issue whether it be public health, safety or the environment,” she said.
 
One such issue was the purchase of 67 acres of prime real estate for $10.5 million in 1999.
 
“What I am most proud of is our decision to purchase Airlie Gardens. It was a very expensive purchase, but it is so much more than a park. It is like our Central Park,” Copley said. “I remember working with the board at the time and asking them ‘Do you want to be the board who saved Airlie or the board who allowed it to be developed?’ It is a jewel, really, and it is one of the proudest in my career.” 
 
Another source of pride for Copley is when the county decided to build a new jail to remedy the “horrible conditions” at the former North Fourth Street location. 
 
“I said, ‘You either build a new jail or a judge will order you to build a new one,’” Copley recalled. 
 
She describes how that decision allowed The Harrelson Center to establish itself in the former jail location as a hub for nonprofit offices.
 
“Now look at all the wonderful things [The Harrelson Center] has done for our citizens,” Copley said. 
 
Copley has also served as the attorney for both the New Hanover County ABC Board and the New Hanover County Airport Authority.   
 
“For the ABC Board, I stayed on as legal counsel and they needed a liaison with the county, so I made sure all rules and statutes were followed, and I represented the airport board when it was a commission and helped them get the authority,” Copley said. 
 
Paying homage to Deb Hays, the county commissioner who died in March, Copley reflected on the uncertainty of life and said she looks forward to enjoying her retirement after a job well done. 
 
“There has not been a day that I walked into my office and I haven’t enjoyed it,” Copley said. “I love New Hanover County. Now I am going to have the time to enjoy whatever life I have left."

Correction: This version corrects former New Hanover County Attorney Bob Pope's name.