Back to all offices
Updated June 2026 · SSA Public

Hearing Office

RALEIGH

Region 04Rank #85 of 160

Avg processing

259days

-7 vs national

Processing time

259

8.6 months

Hearing wait

7.0

months (current)

Cases pending

3,441

FY receipts

4,037

FY dispositions

3,342

Active judges

19

Video hearings

0%

of hearings held

Avg approval rate

61.5%

+3.8 vs avg

Backlog ratio

1.21

Growing

Rank

#85

of 160

Processing time in context

Fastest · 72 daysAvg · 266 daysSlowest · 680 days

The draw · approval spread across 19 judges

38%
82%
0%Median 64.3%100%

At RALEIGH, approval rates range from 37.6% (Weaver, Cynthia) to 81.9% (Naylor, Amy) — a 44-pointspread. Assignment is effectively the luck of the draw, so the judge a case lands with can matter more than the office’s average. Plan for the median (64.3%), not the best case.

Judges at RALEIGH (19)

JudgeApprovalDecisionsFavorableDeniedTrend
Naylor, Amy81.9%28223151
Grounds, Sonya78.4%1259827
Harper, Catherine73.4%29721879
Shea, David J70.9%32322994
Rideout, Robert70.6%14310142
Messina, Christopher70.0%402812
Bumgarner, Ashley69.4%18612957
Hall, Brandie67.3%17111556
Wordsworth, Paula65.9%331218113
Wisz, Katherine64.3%1439251
Brinkley, Joseph L.62.1%354220134
Wright, Wanda57.1%247141106
Hoskins-Hart, Teresa53.4%292156136
Firestone, Scott50.0%1185959
Droker, Robert48.2%1396772
Ofori-Acquaah, Anne-Marie47.0%304143161
Williams, James E46.9%292137155
Finnie, Michael46.3%1778295
Weaver, Cynthia37.6%1013863