Janice McKenzie Cole is the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina which encompasses 44 of the state's 100 counties, covering the area from Raleigh to the coast. She received her bachelor of science degree with highest honors from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, part of the City University of New York. She also has a masters degree in public administration from John Jay. She received her law degree from Fordham University in 1979.

Ms. Cole, a native New Yorker, is a former New York City police officer, and was in one of the first groups of female police officers assigned to patrol the streets in high crime areas. Upon her completion of law school, Ms. Cole served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York.

In 1983 she moved to a rural community in North Carolina and started a private practice. Seven years later she was elected to serve as a state District Court Judge. She was the first black and first woman to serve as a judge in that district. She held that position until she was sworn in as the United States Attorney in February, 1994.

Ms. Cole is married to J. Carlton Cole, a District Court Judge for North Carolina's First Judicial District. They reside in Hertford, North Carolina.