Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Dolan to become judge on Friday

Ketchum attorney looking forward to new responsibilities

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By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Longtime Ketchum attorney Dan Dolan will take the oath of office as Camas County magistrate judge on Friday. Photo by Willy Cook

    Outside of court, he prefers to be called just “Dan,” but after Friday, in the courtroom Ketchum attorney Daniel M. Dolan needs to be called “your honor.”
    Dolan was selected in November as the new Camas County magistrate judge, replacing Judge Jason Walker, who after holding the post for seven years has taken a position as Teton County magistrate judge.
    Dolan’s oath of office ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday at the American Legion Hall at 114 Camas Ave. East in Fairfield. A reception will follow. The public is invited.
    “I feel very fortunate and excited about my new position and it’s going to be really interesting,” Dolan said in an interview Monday. “I actually applied for the job seven years ago. I’ve looked at being a judge several times.”
    Dolan, 59, is a longtime Blaine County resident and has practiced law in the county for 23 years, sharing an office in Ketchum with his good friend attorney Andrew Parnes.
    However, the new job requires that Dolan live in Camas County.
    “I don’t have to move to Camas County; I get to move to Camas County,” he said. “I’ve rented a place there until I figure out what I want to do.
    “I will be chambered in Fairfield and there is a courtroom on the second floor of the courthouse.”
    However, according to the current plan, which Dolan noted might change, he will only be in Fairfield as a judge on Fridays. Tentatively, he will serve as a juvenile judge two days a week in Twin Falls County, will serve as magistrate judge one day a week in Jerome County and will serve as magistrate judge one day a week in Blaine County, where his caseload will include both civil and criminal matters.
    “Right now, I should be up here every Tuesday,” Dolan said.
    He said that Walker had a similar schedule and “that’s traditionally been the nature of that position.”
    For the past several years, Dolan has been one of five attorneys or law firms contracted to provide public defender services in Blaine County. He also had been a public defender in Camas County.
    In announcing Dolan’s appointment in November, Twin Falls 5th District Administrative Judge G. Richard Bevin, who served as chairman of the selection commission, stated that Dolan was one of four “highly qualified” final applicants who were interviewed by the commission.
    Dolan received a bachelor degree in science of forestry from Iowa State University and a Juris doctorate degree from Gonzaga University in 1979.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com

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