Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 28, 1995 TAG: 9501300024
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roy B. Willett confirmed this week that he is interested in filling a position on the court created by the retirement of Judge Bernard Barrow, who will step down June 1.
Willett has been a Circuit Court judge in Roanoke and Roanoke County since 1985, and previously was a judge in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for eight years.
``Judge Willett has been around for 18 or 19 years, and he has a lot of experience'' that makes him a good candidate for the appellate court, Roanoke Bar Association President Charles Williams said.
The bar group will meet Wednesday to consider endorsing Willett. At the same time, it is expected to back Lawrence L. Koontz, a Salem judge on the Court of Appeals, to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court.
Although other candidates for the two positions are expected to emerge statewide, Willett and Koontz are the only two judges from the Roanoke area seeking the jobs, Williams said.
Endorsements will be sought from statewide bar groups, such as the Virginia State Bar and the Virginia Bar Association, before the General Assembly fills the positions during its current session.
The Virginia Court of Appeals is a 10-member, intermediate appeals court that was created in 1985 to ease the caseload of an overburdened state Supreme Court.
The court usually hears appeals in three-judge panels that meet across the state.
Because there is little representation of the Roanoke Valley and Southwest Virginia on the current Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, area lawyers and legislators are closely watching this year's appointment process.
With the exception of one justice from Covington, the Supreme Court consists entirely of members from the Richmond, Tidewater and Northern Virginia areas. The Court of Appeals has a similar makeup, with Koontz and two others the only judges from west of Lynchburg.
A Roanoke native, Willett received his law degree from Samford University Law School in Birmingham, Ala., in 1968. He was in private practice and worked as an assistant commonwealth's attorney for Roanoke before being appointed to the juvenile court bench in 1977.
Willett is chief judge of the 23rd Judicial Circuit, which comprises Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem, and also has served as president of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
by CNB