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LAS CRUCES - A new municipal court judge is expected to be at work by February, Mayor Ken Miyagishima said Thursday.
The New Mexico Supreme Court last month accepted the resignation of Las Cruces Municipal Court Judge James T. Locatelli, who had been suspended without pay in October after allegedly threatening a court employee and improperly dismissing hundreds of cases. Locatelli had been on the bench since 2001, Miyagishima said, calling a municipal court vacancy "very rare."
The salary for the new judge will be $93,207 for the remainder of Locatelli's vacated four-year term. An election is scheduled for 2013.
Presiding Municipal Court Judge Melissa Miller Byrnes has been keeping cases moving with the help of several pro tem judges available to the court, and the applications and suggestions for a new judge have been flowing in, Miyagishima said. Miller Byrnes did not return a call for comment on the process to fill the court's vacancy.
"We've asked interested parties to submit resumes," he said. "We will put together a committee and probably submit three names to the council."
The council will vote on a new judge around Jan. 1, with the hiring complete by February. What will they be looking for?
"Someone who has experience in civil and criminal law," Miyagishima said. "I'm sure if some of the pro-tem judges were to apply, that gives them a bump, to have a little experience."
Municipal Court, which is technically a city agency, handles traffic citations, some
Former city councilor Johnny Gomez, who in the late 1960s pushed for the requirement that municipal judges first be practicing attorneys, said knowledge of the law is key for a new judge, who has the power to sentence people to prison for days, weeks, even years.
"Let's say you go before a magistrate judge, those judges have not practiced law, they have not been before the board to be qualified attorneys, but then they pass judgment," Gomez said. "Without a legal background, I didn't feel that just anybody could be qualified to be a judge."
Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462
Interested in applying?
Download the application from the city's website, www.las-cruces.org, and mail or hand-deliver no later than Dec. 30 to Las Cruces City Hall, Human Resources Department, 700 N. Main, Room 2200, Las Cruces, N.M., 88001. Applications can also be faxed to (575) 528-3020. More information is available by calling (575) 528-3100.
