William Laurence Saunders (July 30, 1835 – April 2, 1891) was an American attorney, newspaper editor, historian, Ku Klux Klan chief organizer in North Carolina, and the North Carolina Secretary of State from 1879 until his death in 1891.

Saunders served as a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War; commanding the 46th North Carolina Infantry Regiment.

Thomas Jordan Jarvis to replace his brother-in-law, Joseph A. Engelhard, who had died in office.

[2] He was a member and secretary-treasurer of the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

[3] Carolina Hall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was formerly named Saunders Hall, to honor Saunders as a Confederate veteran, UNC-Chapel Hill Trustee, and leader of the North Carolina Ku Klux Klan[4] In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, there were calls from UNC students to remove his name from the building because of his leadership in the Klan.