At its Oct. 31 meeting, the Executive Council voted unanimously to confirm Kenneth C. Brown, Diane M. Nicolosi and Brian T. Tucker as associate justices of the superior court.

All three were to be sworn in shortly after the vote.                       

Henrietta Luneau, a Concord attorney, also was confirmed for an initial three-year-term as a marital master. She will be assigned to the Salem Family Division and will begin her tenure on the bench later this month. Given the critical nature of the vacancies, it was expected that the three judges would be sworn-in within a few days after the vote.

Also on the Executive Council agenda were upgrades to full-time for four part-time judges in the district and probate courts. The Council confirmed full-time judicial positions for Lucinda Sadler, who sits in Hooksett District Court and the Derry and Laconia family division; Thomas Rappa, of Plymouth District Court and family division; and John Yazinski, in the Claremont District Court and family division. Also confirmed was James Patten as Carroll County Probate Court Judge, who also hears cases in the family division in different locations.

Family Division and District Court Administrative Judge Edwin Kelly said all four judges were working five days a week on a per-diem basis; the upgrades will provide them with health insurance and retirement benefits and will not affect their court assignments.

Kelly said the focus on the superior court vacancies that were filled at the Oct. 31 meeting has diverted attention from two critical vacancies in the district court. Although the legislature has approved funding, based on caseload, for full-time judges in Manchester and Nashua district courts, the governor has not yet asked the Judicial Selection Committee to seek candidates. Also vacant is the Plaistow District Court judgeship vacated by the appointment of Judge Peter Hurd to the Rockingham County Probate Court. 

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