Todd Williams, 51, is a North Carolina native. Born in Winston-Salem, he attended UNC-Chapel Hill, graduating in 1992 with a BA in English. Todd then taught English as a Second Language and adult basic skills to textile workers, immigrants, and the homeless in central North Carolina.  That experience led Todd to pursue a career in social justice through public service law. While attending Northeastern University Law School, Todd was preparing to specialize in labor law and serve workers as his clients. Internships at the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia, and in a civil rights law firm in Charlotte turned Todd decisively toward criminal justice. 

Todd worked for nearly 15 years as a public defender and as a capital defender. Todd represented indigent defendants of all ages at every level in our justice system -- from misdemeanors to murder. By 2014, per the NC Innocence Inquiry Commission, two young working-class African American men had been convicted on bad, undisclosed evidence, and had served years in prison for crimes they did not commit. The integrity of the justice system was at an ebb and Todd wanted to restore it. In 2014, a full two years before a wave of reform-minded prosecutors were elected nationwide in 2016, Todd ran against and defeated a 24-year incumbent. Todd won re-election in 2018.

As DA, Todd has resolved heinous crimes while concurrently working to reverse questionable past convictions and removing two men from NC’s death row. Todd was instrumental in creating wraparound services for victims through the Child Advocacy Center and the Family Justice Center, and services for offenders including the Justice Resource Center, the Adult Drug, and Juvenile Misdemeanor Diversion Programs, Veterans’ Treatment Court, expungement clinics and amnesty days, all focused on offering pathways for non-violent offenders to achieve employability and recovery without the stigma of a conviction. Todd recommended investigation of the Buncombe County Manager for corruption and called for an end to self-investigation of potential criminal behavior by law enforcement agencies.

Todd is a NC State Bar Board Certified Specialist in Criminal Law. He lives in Asheville with his wife, a trauma focused mental health counselor, and family.