Incumbent, private lawyer contest seat

Winner will preside at Tierra Amarilla court

Many voters, or at least court watchers, may be familiar with the names on the Democratic primary ballot for the state District Court judgeship that oversees felony cases in Rio Arriba County.

Both Jason Lidyard and Matthew E. Jackson applied for the Division V seat in the 1st Judicial District — which includes Santa Fe and Los Alamos counties, as well as Rio Arriba — when Jennifer Attrep, who had held the position, was named to the state Court of Appeals in January.

Lidyard, who spent the past seven years as a prosecutor in the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office, was recommended by the judicial district’s Judicial Nomination Commission and later appointed to the seat by Gov.

Susana Martinez. He’s been on the bench for about four weeks.

Under New Mexico’s judge selection system, Lidyard must stand for election in the first general election after his gubernatorial appointment in order to hold onto his bench. Whoever wins the June 5 primary race between Lidyard and Jackson faces no Republican opposition in the November general election.

Lidyard, 36, said he wanted to be a judge because he was tired of dealing with judges who, he said, did not have enough experience in the courtroom.

“I’ve practiced in jurisdictions where the person sitting on the bench doesn’t have any trial experience, and it’s pretty frustrating as a practitioner when you’re dealing with that,” Lidyard said. “I think that’s probably the main driving force behind wanting to be a judge in this district, specifically dealing with this caseload.”

Lidyard had also applied to take Sarah Singleton’s seat when she retired as the Division II judge last year. Former Santa Fe County Attorney Gregory Shaffer was named to that seat, which primarily handles civil cases, by Gov. Martinez. Shaffer is also running to keep his judgeship.

Lidyard now says it was a good thing he didn’t get the civil court job because he now has the opportunity to handle criminal cases.

“I think it was a blessing, to be honest, to be passed on by the governor for the other position because it’s opened up this opportunity to have a criminal docket, which is something I’m very, very passionate about,” Lidyard said.

Jackson, who now works in private practice, said he wants to get back into public service after working for the attorney general’s office from 2008 to 2013. He also applied for the Singleton vacancy that went to Shaffer.

Jackson said he wants to be a judge because he likes the idea of understanding the letter of the law without having to take the position of a client.

“I really enjoy finding out what the answer is to a legal question,” Jackson said. “I want to know the answers irrespective of what the issues are.”

Although Jackson, whose law firm represents the Journal, admits he has to get “up to speed” on criminal law, he says he has a wide range of experience practicing different types of law.

“I think my opponent is focusing on the criminal side of this docket, but more civil cases are filed in Rio Arriba County,” Jackson said.

Lidyard maintains Jackson is overplaying the civil percentage of the docket and says the makeup is about 75 percent criminal and 25 percent civil. He also said his division was recently assigned all criminal cases from Los Alamos County by the district’s chief judge, Mary Marlowe Sommer.

Whoever wins the seat will primarily hold court at the historic courthouse in Tierra Amarilla. Lidyard said he is holding off on moving up there until after the primary and says he will hold court in Tierra Amarilla Monday through Wednesday, and preside in Española and Los Alamos the rest of the week.

Jackson acknowledged that the 1st District’s Santa Fe-based civil seats generally are considered more attractive because Tierra Amarilla is a good drive from Santa Fe and Española. But that’s not how he sees it, Jackson said.

“TA is a long way off from the population centers of the district,” he said. “I think this position is a bit overlooked. It’s beautiful country up there and the history of the area is so rich.”