Judge Tarita A. (Ridgill) Dunbar was born in Manning, South Carolina and raised in Summerton, South Carolina.  She is the daughter of Roland Hayes and Clotel Ragin Richburg and the late William Nelson Ridgill.   She is a graduate of Manning High School, Georgetown University and the University Of South Carolina School Of Law.

After law school, Tarita started her legal career in private practice in Columbia, South Carolina practicing in the area of domestic relations.    Shortly thereafter, Tarita served as the Director of Research and Legal Counsel for the South Carolina Senate Committee on Corrections and Penology. Her legal career also includes serving as an Attorney for the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation; Attorney for Spartanburg and Cherokee County Department of Social Services; and Attorney for South Carolina Department of Social Services Child Support Division.

Tarita was appointed to serve as a Commissioner to the South Carolina Human Affairs Board of Commissioner.  She also served on the Board of Eau Claire Cooperative Health Centers, Inc., Columbia, South Carolina.
Tarita is a member of Augusta Road Church of Christ, Greenville, South Carolina, where she has served as Sunday School Teacher. 

She enjoys exercising at the Caine Halter YMCA, reading, and hiking.  Tarita is passionate about other’s health in terms of eating properly and using nature’s remedies for healing.