Born and raised in Richmond County, Ross lived there until moving to Baltimore with her mother in the 10th grade. Pregnant at the time with her first child, she enrolled in a summer course for pregnant students and graduated high school in 1971.

Linda Ross wears many hats, prioritizing on community outreach

Ross holds double bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and theology, a master’s in theology and recently completed her doctoral degree in theology. She has four children and cherishes the journey they shared.

Linda S. Ross was born and raised in Richmond County. She holds bachelor's degrees in criminal justice and theology, a master's degree in theology, and a doctoral degree in theology. She has four children.

How the new legislative maps affect ballots for Richmond County ...

Her faith led her to prison ministry at Richmond Correctional Institution (previously known as Morrison Correctional Institution,) where she began working with female inmates, offering Bible studies and words of encouragement. That opportunity opened the door to a 30-year career at the institution, where she advanced from a correctional officer to a correctional training instructor, sergeant, lieutenant, classification coordinator and training specialist.

She later returned to Richmond County, attended Richmond Community College and earned an associate degree in criminal justice before moving to New Orleans. There, she worked as a paraprofessional teaching fifth and sixth grade math. “I don’t know how in the world I did it. It must’ve been arithmetic,” she joked.

Linda S. Ross previously worked at Richmond Correctional Institution as a correctional officer, correctional training instructor, sergeant, lieutenant, classification coordinator and training specialist. She also worked as a paraprofessional teaching fifth- and sixth-grade math.

Also on Monday, two challengers filed to run for the Board of Commissioners: pastor Linda S. Ross and Steve’s Wings founder Melissa Schoonover. This is the first time running for Schoonover and the third for Ross.

Seven candidates file opening day at Richmond County Board of Elections

Linda's campaign for Richmond County Commissioner is her third run for public office.

Seven candidates file opening day at Richmond County Board of ...

2026 North Carolina General Election

As of September 2, 2026, Linda S. Ross did not have a website or any information online.

Economy

Partners with food-assistance organizations and helps distribute free food and essential resources to community members.

RICHMOD COUNTY — Linda Ross is a woman that wears many hats, but her heart and soul are dedicated to serving the people of Richmond County. As a senior pastor, community outreach coordinator, vice chair for the Richmond County Democratic Party, chair for Scotland County Reentry and a member of the NAACP Richmond County, she continuously works to improve the lives of those around her. She also partners with NC Feeds America and Food Lion Feeds, ensuring people have access to food and essential resources.

For the past five years, she has helped provide turkeys to the community free of charge. “The food bank will come and drop off the food and we’ll also purchase it a lot of the time. We’ve had partners come in and pay for turkeys and we’ll give them out to the community.”

Her personal experiences inspired her to start a soup kitchen at Faith Assembly Outreach Ministries. “When I was raising my children, there were times when we didn’t have food.” Additionally, Ross and her husband started “juice and bread,” providing essentials to those in need. They later partnered with the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina and have been distributing food for 13 years.

Public Services

Helps people leaving prison obtain jobs, food, housing, and essential documents to help reduce their risk of returning to prison.

Her time in the prison system also shaped her perspective. “I saw individuals go out in the summertime and come back in the wintertime because they didn’t have a decent place to live, they didn’t have food to eat, so they would commit some type of crime and come back inside the prison facility.” As chair for reentry, Ross helps individuals leaving prison find jobs, food, housing and essential documents to prevent re-incarceration.

Housing & Urban Development

Public Safety

Transportation & Infrastructure

Energy & the Environment

Linda S. Ross

As of September 2, 2026, Linda S. Ross’s website did not contain information on this issue.

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