Ty Hands currently serves as a district court judge in Judicial District 26. She was appointed to this position in 2009. Ty ran for re-election in 2010, but did not win. She was re-appointed as a district court judge in Judicial District 26 in 2011 and is serving her fourth term.

Ty previously worked as an attorney in private practice and as a law clerk for the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Ty holds a bachelor's degree in English from Winston-Salem State University and a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has two children.