Four local attorneys apply for judge position

The state body that will forward names to Gov. Steve Bullock from which he will select the replacement for the state district judge in Hill, Chouteau and Liberty counties announced it has received applications from four local attorneys and is looking for public comments on the applicants.

The applicants are Havre attorney Randy Randolph, Havre-based Regional Public Defender Katy Snipes Ruiz, Big Sandy attorney Tom Sheehy and Chouteau County Attorney Stephen Gannon.

Last month, Twelfth Judicial District Judge Dan Boucher submitted his letter of resignation effective Nov. 8. He is running unopposed for re-election in the Nov. 6 election.

Boucher said that after decades of working in the legal system in Havre,

he decided it was time to retire and spend more time with his family, adding that he might do some traveling.

Boucher started practicing in Havre in 1984 and was appointed to take the place of retiring judge Dave Rice in 2010. He was unopposed in his bid for re-election in 2012.

A press release from the state Judicial Nomination Commission said the Commission will forward the names of nominees to the governor 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 2019 legislative session.  

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

The commission said people cam comment in writing,

e-mail or paper, or via telephone at406-841-2972. Comments, which become part of an applicant's file, will be posted on the Commission's web page and forwarded to the Governor. Public comment may be submitted to Judicial Nomination Commission, ℅ Lois Menzies, Office of Court Administrator, P.O. Box 203005, Helena, MT 59620-3005 [email protected]/.

The full applications can be seen at http://courts.mt.gov/supreme/boards/jud_nomination/.  

In his application, Randolph said he is a 1991 Havre High School graduate and earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Montana State University in

Bozeman in 1996 and his law degree from the University of Montana in 1999.

He started Randolph Law Firm in Havre in 1999, and wrote that he has practiced privately in both civil and criminal matters, including as a contract attorney with the public defender's office, and regularly handles civil and criminal cases on Fort Belknap and

Rocky Boy's Indian reservations.

He wrote that about 65 percent of his time is spent on criminal cases and the rest about equally on all other civil, family and estate issues.

He noted that he has a particular interest in Indian law, and has served

on the council of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Randolph said he believes it is important to give back to the community.

"I am a lifelong resident of my local community, and my family ties go back more than six generations in the Havre and Hi-Line communities," he said. "I am related to many people in Havre and along the Hi-Line, including residents of both the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation. With such strong local ties the health and well being of the community is of vital importance to me. I think everyone should give back to their community in any way they can."

Ruiz said in her application that she graduated from C.M. Russell High School in Great Falls in 2004 and earned a Bachelor of Science with honors in sociology with a justice studies emphasis and political science minor from MSU in 2008, and a law degree from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, in 2011.

She began practicing law in Havre in 2011, representing clients in criminal, family, landlord-tenant and civil matters including as a contract attorney with the public defender's office. She joined the office of the public defender in 2014, taking over as regional deputy director that year and serving in that position since then. Including her management duties in that office, she said, she carries a full caseload of her own, including clients in criminal matters in city, justice and district courts, representing youths in Youth Court and representing clients in civil matters.

She said she also has worked as an adjunct professor at Montana State University-Northern in its Criminal Justice Program and works with the university in its cooperative education placement, including mentoring five students.

She said she is part of the drug and dui treatment courts, and has been active in community events as well.

She said she has dedicated her career in academia and the law to giving back to the community, and was attracted to Gonzaga University by the Jesuit philosophy of educating people to pursue the public good. She has given her time to the community while here, she said, from donating time to the Community Education Program, working at the Veterans Stand Down, joining the executive board of the nonprofit Federal Defenders of Montana, to dressing as an elf at  Rotary Club Christmas parties and barbecuing corn at its fair booth.

"Both within and outside of the practice of law, I freely give my time to the community because, in doing so, we make the community a better place," she said.

Sheehy said he graduated from Big Sandy High School in 1970 and earned a Bachelor of Science in economics from MSU in 1974 and his law degree from UM in 1977.

He served as a deputy Hill County attorney from 1977 to 1979 and since then has served in private practice and as Chouteau County attorney from 1987 to 1990. He worked with his parents on their ranch from 1979 to 1985 and has been involved with the ranch ever since.

His practices focused on civil law, he said, but he practiced substantially in criminal law for 15 years, including prosecution and public defense. Sheehy said he does not hold himself out as a specialist, but at times has substantial practice in specific areas of law including in the water courts.

He has practiced extensively both in courts and before boards and agencies including the Montana Child Support Enforcement Division, serving as a member on a number of medical panels, appearing before the Farm Service Agency and the Montana Land Board.

Sheehy said he has been active in his community, including being a member of the local Rotary Club for 40 years, supporting the local fire department, leading a local Cub Scout pack and continuing his family's tradition of offering access to a park on their land, maintained by Rotary Club.

"I believe it is important to contribute to the community," Sheehy said.

Gannon said he graduated from Simms High School in 1983 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from UM in 1988 and his law degree from UM in 1992.

He was a staff attorney for Montana Legal Services from 1992-94, then in private practice from 1994-2004. He served as a part-time deputy Hill County attorney from 2003-7 and has served as Chouteau County attorney from 2003 to the present as well as continuing his private practice, as time allows, he said.

Gannon said his uncle was a county attorney and was in practice before he retired, and that is what led him to get into his law career.

He is an EMT and has taught classes on medical legal issues in various classes, he said, has been a hunter education instructor since 2012, was in the Big Sandy Rotary Club and still attends its annual fundraiser and has been a parish council member in both Big Sandy and Fort Benton.

He said his philosophy in public and community involvement is that, to be part of a community, a person needs to support the community when and where they can.

"This must be balanced with spending time with one's family and performing their job," he added. "I am still looking for the perfect balance."