SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Santa Fe attorney Shannon Broderick Bulman has been appointed to fill a vacant judgeship in the First Judicial District left by the Dec. 31 retirement of state District Judge Raymond Ortiz.
Bulman’s appointment was made by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
As the Division III judge in the First Judicial District, Ortiz presided primarily over civil cases in Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties since 2005.
Bulman told the Santa Fe New Mexican that Chief Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer has shuffled dockets slightly in the eight-judge district, giving Judge Maria Sanchez-Gagne the civil case docket.
Bulman will preside over family court cases, which is more in keeping with her professional experience.
Bulman worked as a family court hearing officer in the First Judicial District for several years before her appointment to the bench.
To remain on the bench, Bulman will have to be elected in the November general election and be affirmed by 57 percent of voters in retention elections every six years thereafter.
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