ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 9, 1997 TAG: 9704090048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK THE ROANOKE TIMES
The governor will make his selection next month.
Roanoke County Circuit Judge Roy B. Willett is among 31 candidates under consideration for a spot on the Virginia Supreme Court.
Willett's name was included on a list released Tuesday by Gov. George Allen, who was given the power to name a Supreme Court justice after partisan politics blocked an appointment by the General Assembly.
The list, which may grow even longer before Allen makes an appointment next month, was compiled after the governor asked for suggestions from bar associations, lawmakers, civic groups and citizens.
Some of Allen's candidates - including Salem lawyer and former Republican delegate Steve Agee - were considered by legislators in their failed effort to appoint someone to replace retiring Justice Roscoe Stephenson of Covington.
Federal Magistrate Cynthia Kinser of Abingdon and Henry Hudson, a former state and federal prosecutor from Arlington, are considered strong contenders because of their ties to the governor.
Allen is expected make an appointment that will preserve the seven-member court's conservative majority.
Willett, who was not among the candidates considered by the General Assembly, has been a Circuit Court judge for the Roanoke Valley since 1985 and was a judge in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for eight years before that.
With his candidacy, four of the Roanoke Valley's six Circuit Court judges are now seeking new positions. Judges Richard Pattisall, Diane Strickland and Clifford Weckstein have all expressed interest in a federal judgeship in Western Virginia.
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