The North Dakota Supreme Court recently released the names of the seven candidates who have applied to fill the new judgeship headed to Minot in early 2010.

According to the Supreme Court Web site, Minot attorneys William Bergman, Todd Cresap, Charles DeMakis, Paul Probst and Reed Soderstrom are joined by Kelly Dillon of Voltaire and Denise Hays of Burlington in seeking the bench created by the 2009 North Dakota Legislature.

Bergman is a former city attorney for the City of Minot, while Dillon is currently an assistant state's attorney for Ward County. Cresap ran unsuccessfully against current Northwest District Judge Richard Hagar for the seat vacated by the retiring Judge Robert Holte.

Deadline for application for the position was Sept. 3.

The Minot judgeship was created by the Legislature following a study that showed the Northwest District was in need of more judicial resources. The additional judge in Minot will mean that the two judges based in Williston will no longer have to travel to Stanley to handle cases there. That duty will be handled by the five Minot judges. A judicial referee is also assigned to Minot.

The seven candidates will next be interviewed by a judicial nomination committee, which will then forward its recommendation to Gov. John Hoeven. Interviews are expected to take place in early October.

William McLees, the presiding judge in Minot's Northwest District Court, is a member of the committee.

Once a recommendation has been made, Hoeven will have 30 days to appoint the new judge.

On Friday, Hoeven named H. Patrick Weir as the new judge for the Southeast Judicial District.

Dave Caldwell