Bush should make the nomination official today.

Wagoner and nominees for seven other federal judicial districts received the news of the president’s plans.

“It is a tremendous honor, and I’m thrilled that President Bush would appoint me,” Wagoner said.

In a press release issued Monday, Sen. Jesse Helms said, “I’m among the many who are personally delighted with the president’s wise decision to nominate Anna Mills Wagoner to the significant post ...”

Helms said he has “taken pride in her career rising through our state’s judicial ranks. She is deservedly widely respected and will serve with distinction.”

The U.S. attorney oversees the prosecution of federal crimes in 24 counties in central North Carolina.

The U.S. Senate still must approve Bush’s nomination. U.S. district attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president.

With the main office in Greensboro and a satellite office in Winston Salem, Wagoner has no plans to leave her home in Salisbury.

Seventeen attorneys work in the Greensboro office and three in Winston-Salem.

The U.S. Attorney keeps an unstaffed office in Durham.

If a district court judge does not complete his or her term, the N.C. Bar Association must appoint three candidates from which Gov. Michael Easley appoints a new judge. The replacement judge must be of the same political party — Republican, in Wagoner’s case.

Since Wagoner is Rowan County’s Chief District Court judge, N.C. Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr. will appoint the new chief judge from any of the four district court judges.

Wagoner, 52, was first elected to the District Court bench in 1990 and appointed chief by former Chief Justice James Exum in 1993.

A graduate of Agnes Scott College in suburban Atlanta and an honors graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law, Wagoner was an associate with Woodson, Linn, Sayers, Lawther, Short and Wagoner from 1985 to 1987.

That’s when she became a partner.

She has served on numerous county and state boards. In 2000, she was elected president of the Conference of Chief District Court Judges.

In 1994, she served as a member of a statewide committee chaired by Gov. Jim Hunt, which rewrote the Juvenile Code. She received her certification as a Juvenile Court Judge in 1991 and has served as an instructor at the school for new district court judges.

As a District Court judge in Rowan County, Wagoner worked with local officials on a juvenile drug treatment court.

Rumors of Wagoner’s appointment surfaced in May, but Wagoner said she is still somewhat in awe.

“I’m sort of speechless,” she said.

She considers the appointment is not only an honor for her and her family but also for the community.