Alamance County Commissioner John P. Paisley Jr. Dies; Re-elected in 2024

John P. Paisley Jr., a longtime local lawyer and three-term member of the Alamance County Board of Commissioners, has died. Local outlets reported his passing Feb. 16, 2026; his current term was not set to end until 2028 after his 2024 re-election following an earlier partial term beginning in 2014 and a full election in 2020.

Reports list Paisley’s education as Elon College, class of 1970, and a law degree from Wake Forest School of Law in 1973. Accounts describe decades of legal practice in the community, with the Times-News reporting he practiced in Burlington and Alamance News calling him a long-time lawyer in Graham. He served in multiple public roles over the years, including as a member and chairman of the Alamance County Board of Elections and as president of the Alamance County Bar Association.

Paisley’s involvement in mental health and substance abuse governance extended to the Alamance and Caswell Mental Health Board and the Alamance County Mental Health Board, where he served as chairman, and he was reported as districtwide chairman of the Mental Health Board and a member of the N.C. Substance Abuse Professional Certification Board. Elonnewsnetwork and other coverage also note he served as president of the North Carolina Board of Elections Chairman’s Association and as a member of Elon University’s Alumni Board.

On the commission, Alamance News reported Paisley served several years as chairman before stepping aside in December in favor of Kelly Allen. The same account described him as “a champion for lower property tax rates,” noting he voted against property tax rate increases contained in budgets adopted in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

In recent months Paisley had struggled with increasing immobility, Alamance News reported. He attended many meetings in a wheelchair, participated remotely by Zoom at other times, and county staff had set a special location for him on the commissioners’ hearing room floor because he could not ascend to the raised dais. That account also said he missed several of the board’s recent semi-monthly meetings.

Paisley’s family was listed in local notices as his wife, Joyce Aldret Paisley, and four adult children: Janet K. Paisley; Susan Hedrick; John Paisley III; and Elizabeth Paisley. Sources differ slightly on personal details — Alamance News described him as married for 52 years while WFMY/Yahoo reported he was married for over 51 years and had seven grandchildren — and outlets vary on his reported age, with Times-News giving 77 and Alamance News reporting 76.

Vice Chair Steve Carter reacted to the news, saying he was sad and adding, "Just always known him to be a traditional Southern gentleman." Carter also recalled a recent, personal visit: "The last thing I did was about two weeks ago, I went over and borrowed some of his poles for my banner signs," he said. "I checked up on him, and I hated I waited, I hated it was two weeks since I last talked to him."

Because Paisley was a Republican, the Alamance County Republican Party executive committee will be called to appoint an interim replacement to the commission; that appointee must run in the upcoming election and whoever wins will serve through 2028. County officials and the local GOP have not yet released a comprehensive public statement with obituary details and a confirmed list of surviving relatives.