
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995                   TAG: 9502020047
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ROANOKE VALLEY JUDGES ENDORSED

Two Roanoke Valley judges have been endorsed by two bar associations for positions on state appellate courts.

At a meeting of the Roanoke Bar Association on Wednesday, Lawrence L. Koontz, a Salem judge who sits on the Virginia Court of Appeals, was endorsed for a vacant seat on the state Supreme Court.

The association also backed Roy Willett, a Roanoke Valley Circuit judge, for a position on the Court of Appeals.

Both Koontz and Willett - the only Roanoke-area candidates for the two positions - also were endorsed Tuesday at a meeting of the Roanoke County-Salem Bar Association.

The two positions will be filled by the General Assembly this session.

Although Koontz and Willett did not face local opposition, other candidates have surfaced statewide. The Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys has endorsed Williamsburg Circuit Judge William Person for the Supreme Court and Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney Christopher Hutton for the Court of Appeals.

The vacancy on the Supreme Court will occur with the upcoming retirement of Justice Henry Whiting, and the position on the Court of Appeals became available when Judge Bernard Barrow decided to step down.

Koontz was an assistant commonwealth's attorney and a judge in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and Circuit Court before he was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1985. He was considered a leading candidate for the Supreme Court in 1987, but lost the opportunity after Roanoke-area lawmakers could not agree on who should fill the position.

Willett has been an assistant commonwealth's attorney and a judge in Roanoke Valley juvenile and circuit courts for 18 years.

by CNB