JUDGE RONALD R. NORTON was born in 1952, in Bennettsville, South Carolina. Judge Ronald R. Norton is the son of the late Lucian C. Norton, Jr. and the late Myra Knight Norton.

Judge Norton grew up in Clio, South Carolina. He attended public school in Clio and graduated from Clio High School in 1970. He attended the University of South Carolina where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974 and graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law, Columbia, South Carolina, where he received his Juris Doctor in 1977.

Upon graduation from law school, Judge Norton practiced law in Beaufort County, South Carolina, for eight years prior to relocating to Horry County, South Carolina. He practiced in Horry County, South Carolina, from 1985 until his election to the Family Court in 2008.

Judge Norton has served on the Board of the Horry County Public Defender Corporation, the Fifteenth Circuit Fee Dispute Board and was a part-time prosecutor for the City of Myrtle Beach. He also served on the Horry County Higher Education Commission.

Judge Norton has been a member of the Horry County Bar Association and the South Carolina Bar Association. Judge Norton is licensed to practice in the South Carolina Courts, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Judge Norton attends Surfside United Methodist Church in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, where he has served on the Administrative Board, has been chairman of the Finance Committee as well as the Staff Parish Relations Committee.

Judge Norton is married to the former Sarah Lane Dowling of Clio, South Carolina, who is an elementary school teacher. Judge Norton and his wife have four grandchildren.