Salt Lake City, UT---The Third District Judicial Nominating Commission has selected five nominees for a vacancy in the Third District Court. The position will replace Judge Leslie Lewis whose term ended Jan. 1, 2007. The Third Judicial District is comprised of Salt Lake, Summit, and Tooele counties.
The nominees are as follows: Patricia S. Cassell, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office; Augustus G. Chin, Salt Lake City, Summit County Attorney’s Office; Michele M. Christiansen, Salt Lake City, Governor’s Office; Scott J. Daniels, Salt Lake City, arbitrator and mediator; and Carolyn Nichols, Salt Lake City, Attorney General’s Office.
A 10-day public comment period will be held before the names are submitted to Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. Third District Nominating Commission Chair Larry Lunt is accepting written comments regarding the nominees at Administrative Office of the Courts, P.O. Box 140241, Salt Lake City, UT, 84114-0241. The deadline for written comments is 5 p.m. on Jan. 22, 2007.
The commission may request further interviews or an investigation of the nominees after reviewing public comments. After the public comment period, the names will be sent to the governor who has 30 days to select a candidate. The Governor’s nominee is then forwarded to the Senate Confirmation Committee, which reviews the nominee’s qualifications and conducts a public hearing and interview session. The Senate Confirmation Committee will forward the final nominee to the Utah State Senate, which has 60 days from the Governor’s nomination to confirm the nominee.