Judicial Nomination Commission Solicits Applications

Chief Justice Mike McGrath has notified the Judicial Nomination Commission that the Hon. John McKeon, district judge for the Seventeenth Judicial District (Blaine, Phillips, and Valley counties), will resign his position effective Nov. 30, 2016.

The Commission is now accepting applications from any lawyer in good standing who has the qualifications set forth by law for holding the position of district court judge. The application form is available electronically at http://courts.mt.gov. Applications must be submitted electronically as well as in hard copy. The deadline for submitting applications is 5 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016. The Commission will announce the names of the applicants thereafter.

The public is encouraged to contact Commission members regarding the applicants during the public comment period, which will begin Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, and close Monday, Oct. 3, 2016.

The Commission will forward the names of three to five nominees to the governor for appointment after reviewing the applications, receiving public comment, and interviewing the applicants if necessary. The person appointed by the governor is subject to Senate confirmation during the 2017 legislative session. If confirmed, the appointee will serve for the remainder of Judge McKeon’s term, which expires January 2019. The annual salary for the position is $126,132.

Judicial Nomination Commission members are District Judge Richard Simonton of Glendive; 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.