In 2000, Tyson was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals. His term began in January 2001. He was defeated for re-election to a second term in 2008. He continued to serve as a recall judge on the Court of Appeals, and as an emergency North Carolina Superior Court judge, and was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law (Campbell University). Tyson was elected to the Court of Appeals again in November 2014 for a term beginning in January 2015. Tyson practiced law in Fayetteville from 1993 until 1996 and from 1996 until his election to the Court, with a brief tenure as the Senior Vice President of Development for Blockbuster Entertainment Group in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in 1996. He worked as a Real Estate Director and Counsel for Revco Drug Stores, Inc., from 1982 to 1993 and in similar capacities for Family Dollar Stores, Inc., from 1980 to 1982. He served as a North Carolina Probation/Parole Officer for the North Carolina Department of Correction, from 1975 to 1976. He has also been a public school teacher and deputy sheriff in Cumberland County. Bar admissions  Professional organizations  Getting Paid, Avoiding Conflicts, and Supervising Staff: Fee Arrangements, Multi-party Representation, and Delegation of Duties, The North Carolina State Bar Journal, 16 No. 2 (Summer, 2011). Tyson was most recently appointed to the North Carolina State Ethics Commission by the North Carolina House of Representatives for a three-year term beginning in 2013. He was appointed to the North Carolina Judicial Conference Committee on Compensation and Benefits by the Chief Justice of North Carolina (2002–2008). He was appointed to the North Carolina Property Tax Commission by the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, where he served from 1997 to 1999. He was appointed to the Legislative Research Committee on Private Property Rights by the President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate served in 1995. He was a member of the Legislative Research Committee on Impact Fees, Exactions and Dedications by the President Pro-tem of the Senate in 1994. He was elected to the Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District, where he served as Vice Chairman & later Chairman of the Board, and served from 1992 to 1996. He was appointed to the Cumberland County Joint Planning and Zoning Board, where he was elected Vice-Chairman and later Chairman of the Board, and served from 1993 to 2001. He was commissioned as Captain, promoted to Major, Lieutenant Colonel and served as Colonel and Staff Judge Advocate for the North Carolina State Defense Militia, under the command of the Adjutant General of North Carolina from 1987 to 1996, and is currently in inactive reserve.