Judge candidate interviews set for Dec. 7 in Havre

Editor’s note: This version corrects the date of the interviews to Dec. 7.

People have a chance Friday, Dec. 7 to hear the candidates who applied to take the place of state District Judge Dan Boucher in the state’s 12th Judicial District.

Chouteau County Attorney Stephen A. Gannon, Havre attorney Randy Homer Randolph, Big Sandy attorney Thomas J. Sheehy and Havre-based Region 6 Regional Deputy Public Defender Kaydee Nicole Snipes Ruiz have applied for the position.

Boucher started practicing law in Havre in 1984 and was appointed to take the place of retiring judge Dave Rice in 2010. He was unopposed in his bids for re-election in 2012 and this year, but in September submitted his resignation effective Nov. 9.

The state Judicial Nomination Commission began accepting applications in September, and opened a public comment period on the applicants.

A release from the commission said people can attend the interviews and deliberation on the candidates, which start at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 7 in the Hill County Courthouse, but public comment will not be taken Friday because the comment period has closed.

Comments filed on the candidates can be viewed online on the District Judge Vacancies page of the Judicial Nomination Commission pages of the Montana Judical Branch website at http://courts.mt.gov/. The page with the comments can be found at https://bit.ly/2DONTBn/.

After deliberation, the commission will forward the names of nominees to Gov. Steve Bullock. Bullock will then appoint a judge for the district, subject to Senate confirmation during the legislative session next year.

The position is subject to election again in 2020, and the winner of that election will serve the remainder of the term, which expires in January 2025.

The members of the Judicial Nomination Commission are District Judge John C. Brown of Bozeman; Janice Bishop of Missoula; Karl Englund of Missoula; Elizabeth Halverson of Billings; Hal Harper of Helena; Lane Larson of Billings; and Nancy Zadick of Great Falls.