At the June 25 Executive Council meeting, Gov. John Lynch presented a special commendation to attorney Jill Blackmer for her service as co-chair of the Judicial Selection Commission for the past two years.

Lynch praised the Commission’s efforts to help ensure the state continues to have a high-quality judiciary, and he noted that many behind-the-scenes hours of reading resumes and recommendations, and interviewing candidates must take place to provide candidates for him to consider.

Blackmer’s co-chair, Philip R. Waystack, of Waystack & King in Colebrook, said the Commission is expected to ramp up again with three vacancies on the superior court, and other judgeships to be filled.

At the same Executive Council meeting, Lynch announced that he is nominating two district court special justices for elevation to full-time status in the Manchester and Nashua District Courts.

John Emery of Bedford was put forward to serve as associate justice in Manchester and Michael Ryan of Goffstown as associate justice in Nashua. Emery was first appointed a special justice in 2001 and in addition to serving in Manchester, he has sat in Milford, Merrimack and Goffstown district courts.

Ryan, a special justice in Goffstown since 1999, is a former prosecutor for police departments in Weare and New Boston. He has presided in the Family Division of the Derry District Court since September 2007, and has sat in several other district courts, including Nashua.