Six lawyers have applied to be appointed as a judge in the South Central Judicial District.
Judge Donald Jorgenson will be retiring this summer.
The six are Steven Balaban, Arnold Fleck, Todd Schwarz and Parrell Grossman of Bismarck – and Wayne Goter and Brian Grossinger of Mandan.
Earlier this year, Judge Jorgenson announced he would not be seeking re-election. And Balaban, Schwarz and Grossman announced they would run for that position. Grossman says he had gathered the necessary signatures to get his name on the ballot.
"On March 28th, I received a letter from the Secretary of State, indicating my name had qualified to be placed on the June 10th primary ballot," said Grossman. "Later that same day, I got a call from the Secretary of State, indicating that Judge Jorgenson would be resigning, the Goveror was cancelling the election and would be proceeding with an appointment."
Grossman says he had already invested some money in his campaign.
"I had spent close to $3000," said Grossman. "I had ordered yard signs, vehicle signs otehr campaign materials for door-to-door campaigning. I was starting to look at advertising. I was in full swing."
But Grossman says he supports the idea of having the Governor make judicial appointments.
"Potential judges are thoroughly vetted by the Judicial Nominating Committee," said Grossman. "That committee has 9 members that are both lawyers and non-lawyers that screen the applicants. And I think all of those diverse committee members insure broad input on the criteria for qualified applicants."
The Judicial Nominating Committee will interview the applicants in May – and will forward at least two names to Gov. Jack Dalrymple.