The Hon. Shanté Burke-Hayer is a judge for the Mecklenburg County District Court in the 26th Judicial District of North Carolina. She was elected to the bench in 2022.
Prior to her election, she was an attorney at the Burke-Hayer Law Firm, PLLC since 2017. Her areas of practice included family law, juvenile law, estate planning and probate, and civil matters.
Before joining the firm, Burke-Hayer was a remediation analyst for Wells Fargo (2016 to 2017) and served as a paralegal at Hunt Law, PLLC (2014 to 2016), where she started as a legal intern while attending law school (2013 to 2014).
She received a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2011. Burke-Hayer then completed a J.D. at Charlotte School of Law in 2014. While a law student, she worked as a student attorney at the Family Advocacy Clinic.
Her memberships include the North Carolina State Bar, the North Carolina Bar Association, the Mecklenburg County Bar Association, the Democratic Women of Mecklenburg County, the Leary Bar Association, the NAACP Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Branch, the Black Political Caucus of Mecklenburg County,
Burke-Hayer has also been involved with the Concord Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and is a marriage ministry leader at Ebenezer Baptist Church. In addition, she served as president of the EBC Mass Choir and is a former co-owner of Ladies Leading Initiatives.
Burke-Hayer was raised in Gates, North Carolina. She and her husband have two children. In her free time, she enjoys attending musical performances, singing, dancing, and interior design.
Burke-Hayer is registered as a Democrat.