Randolph, Laird among judge candidates submitted to governor

Two local attorneys are among the candidates submitted to Gov. Steve Bullock for appointment to replace retiring state Judge John McKeon.

The names of Havre attorney Randy Randolph and former Blaine County Attorney Yvonne Laird, along with Dan O’Brien of Malta and Peter Helland of Glasgow, were submitted by the Judicial Nomination Commission to Bullock for consideration in replacing McKeon, who is retiring next month after 22 years on the bench in the 17th Judicial District.

The district includes Blaine, Phillips and Valley counties.

The submission comes amidst controversy over a sentence McKeon imposed in an incest case.

An online petition calling for his impeachment of a Montana judge over the sentencing of a 40-year-old man to 60 days in jail in an incest case involving a 12-year-old girl has more than 16,000 signatures.

The author of the petition on Change.org said it has been sent to Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and other officials. Bullock’s office and at least one other official said Tuesday they have not received it.

The man was sentenced to the jail time plus a 30-year suspended prison term last week as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

McKeon has defended himself against criticism, saying a plea agreement that recommended a 25-year minimum sentence allowed for a lesser one, depending on the results of a psychosexual evaluation. He said that evaluation found the defendant could be safely treated and supervised in the community. McKeon also noted the victim’s mother and grandmother asked that the defendant not be sentenced to prison.

The commission submitted the names following the close of a 30-day public comment period, a press release says. Before recommending the nominees to the governor, commission members interviewed the applicants.

Bullock must fill the position within 30 days of receipt of the nominees from the commission. The person appointed by the governor is subject to Senate confirmation during the 2017 legislative session. If confirmed, the appointee will serve until January 2019.

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.

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Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.