Filing deadline for DA position passes

Wednesday was the filing deadline for candidates to become the next Ninth Judicial District Attorney, replacing current DA Andrea Reeb.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office on Thursday would not divulge the number of applications that had been received, but the governor’s press secretary, Nora Sackett, said before the appointment is made, “interviews will be conducted, and we hope to make an appointment expeditiously.”

Reeb plans to retire March 1.

Candidates for the position applied directly to the governor’s office.

The solicitation for the position posted on the governor’s website listed minimum qualifications as a Juris Doctorate degree from an accredited school of law and seven years of experience in the practice of law.

In addition, candidates are required to have been New Mexico residents for at least the three years before their appointment, and to live in the judicial district.

The Ninth Judicial District includes Curry and Roosevelt counties.

The next DA’s appointment will be good through 2022, but the appointee would have to run for election, beginning with primaries in June, for the remaining two years in the current term.

Reeb said she had planned a summer retirement but realized a March retirement would let her successor spend a few months in the position before the June primary rolls around.

Reeb announced her retirement in November. She has served as a prosecutor in Curry and Roosevelt counties for 25 years.