5 apply for Washoe judgeship; 2 have Carson City connection

Five lawyers including two with Carson City connections have applied for the vacant district judgeship in Washoe County.

The vacancy was created by the death of Judge Patrick Flanagan.

The list of applicants includes one current and one former Carson City deputy district attorney. Orrin Johnson, 41, is a current member of the Carson DA’s staff. Egan Walker, 55, was a Deputy DA in the 1990s. He’s currently a family court judge in Reno.

The other names on the list are Carla Higginbotham, 44, an assistant U.S. Attorney, Craig Denney, 49, an administrative law judge with the Social Security Administration, and Greg Shannon, 61, a family court master with the Washoe Judicial District.

Applicants must be Nevada licensed lawyers with 10 years legal experience, at least two years while living in Nevada.

The applications will now be reviewed by the Commission on Judicial Selection, which will conduct background investigations, accept public comment and interview the candidates. Those interviews will be conducted December 11-12.

That commission will forward three finalists to Gov. Brian Sandoval who will make the final selection.

Information about the candidates with the exception of confidential data such as medical records, can be inspected at the Supreme Court website at http://nvcourts.link/NVJudicialSelection.

The public is invited to submit comments on the applicants by 5 p.m. December 8 to Robin Sweet, secretary to the commission, Nevada Supreme Court, 201 S. Carson St., Suite 250, Carson City 89701.