Wednesday — February 25, 2004

Three apply for 5th District judgeship

May to retire May 1

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

Blaine County Magistrate Judge Robert Elgee and two Twin Falls attorneys have applied to replace retiring 5th District Judge James J. May, who is retiring May 1 after 17 years on the bench.

The Idaho Judicial Council, comprising seven lay and legal members and chaired by Supreme Court Chief Justice Linda Copple Trout, will interview Elgee and attorneys Richard Greenwood and Thomas Kershaw Jr. The interviews, which are open to the public, begin at noon Wednesday, March 31, in the district courtroom of the Blaine County Judicial Building.

The council will then make a recommendation to Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. Kempthorne will pick May’s replacement.

Elgee has been a magistrate judge in Blaine County for more than a decade. Greenwood, a private attorney in Twin Falls, was a finalist for a 5^th District judge position that opened when Judge Rober Burdick was appointed to the Idaho Supreme Court. Kershaw also applied for that post.

The public is invited to comment on the candidates by answering questionnaires that are available through county clerk offices of all of the counties in the 5^th Judicial District. Comments are required by March 10.

May, who turned 78 on Dec. 17, said he plans to write, take care of his yard in Hailey and to enjoy 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. His son and grandson are lawyers in his old Twin Falls firm. A daughter is on the staff of the University of California.

He also may gain the title of senior judge to handle some court duties in emergencies.

His successor will serve out the rest of May’s term until the 2006 election.

May was Twin Falls County prosecutor from 1961 to 1966 and was the first public defender for the county in the 1970s. He was appointed to the bench in 1986 by then Gov. John Evans.

As a private attorney, May represented daredevil Evel Knievel, whose ill-fated attempt to leap the Snake River gorge in a custom-made rocket vehicle in 1974 drew worldwide attention.

May flew to the gorge by helicopter with $4,000 to pay personnel working on the planned stunt.

He also presided in the 13-week trial of Mitchel Odiaga, who was convicted of killing two people on the streets of Ketchum. Odiaga is serving a life sentence.

 

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