Judge Jeffery K. Carpenter joins the Court of Appeals after serving as a superior court judge. He grew up just outside of the town of Morven in Anson County, North Carolina, where he attended and graduated from Anson County Public Schools. Judge Carpenter attended Wingate University before transferring to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he completed his undergraduate studies and earned a bachelor of arts in political science. Shortly after graduating, he attended and graduated from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol 93rd Basic Training School. Judge Carpenter served the State of North Carolina as a state trooper for approximately six years before attending law school at Campbell University, earning his juris doctorate degree.

After completing law school and passing the North Carolina bar exam, Judge Carpenter returned to Anson County and built a litigation practice in the areas of criminal defense, domestic litigation, and general civil litigation with the firm of Little, Carpenter, and Flake, PLLC, and later, with Carpenter and Flake, PLLC. He practiced law in Anson, Richmond, Stanly, and Union counties, formerly Judicial District 20.

In 2016, he was appointed to the superior court bench in Union County by Governor Pat McCrory, won election to that office in November 2016, and later became the senior resident superior court judge for Union County. Judge Carpenter was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in November 2020.

He is married to his wife of 24 years, Love Carpenter, and they have one son, Hugh, who is 15 years old. Judge Carpenter and his family live in Union County.