Applicants for vacancy in Yuma County Superior Court interviewed

Either San Luis Magistrate Nohemy Echavarria, attorney Denise Avila Taylor or prosecutor Nathaniel Sorenson will be chosen to fill a judicial vacancy on the Yuma County Superior Court.

They were each interviewed on-site Tuesday morning at the Yuma County Justice Center, located at 250 W. 2nd St., in Courthouse Room 316, by members of Gov. Doug Ducey’s executive staff.

The vacancy was created by the resignation of Judge Brandon S. Kinsey, which becomes effective on Dec. 21.

During their 30-minute interviews, Echavarria, Sorenson and Taylor were each asked the same series of questions.

They were also given a few minutes afterward to tell members of the panel why the governor should appoint them to the bench seat.

Taylor, who also serves as a pro tem judge for the Cocopah Tribal Court, said during her interview that with half the bench being new judges, she believes her extensive background in both civil and criminal law, will be extremely beneficial to the court.

She also spoke about using the Yuma County Juvenile Detention Center to form an in-patient treatment program for children arrested for abusing fentanyl, when asked what she believes is the biggest problem facing the Yuma Superior Court system.

Taylor explained there is currently no facility in Yuma County to treat juveniles for fentanyl and they are being sent out of town, at great expense to their families, for their drug treatment, which is part of the sentence they receive.

The problem with that, she continued, is that those out-of-town treatment facilities don’t often have the opportunity to work with the families, which is an important part of the child’s recovery.

“You can get a child sober, or stabilized if there are mental health issues, but if you return that child to the same environment the chances of that remaining long term are very slim,” Taylor said.

The Yuma County Juvenile Detention Center already has extensive outpatient and educational services in place, and counselors and therapists are already going there to work with children, so establishing a family program would solve the problem.

“The part that is missing that we could provide is working hand-in-hand with the family to address the issues at home so that when the child is ready to go back, they are in a healthy environment,” Taylor said. “I think that would give them a lot better chance of success,”

She also talked about how she is currently working with the Yuma County Superior Court to resolve some of the red tape involved in placing a child in a psychiatric care hospital, which is similar to mental health proceedings for adults.

All the bureaucracy involved has caused problems for the prosecution in presenting evidence to warrant such a placement and it has led to children being discharged form their case despite needing that level of care.

“Even more importantly, the opposite. I have handled several cases where a child has been placed there and left there despite not needing that medical necessity to the point of it becoming detrimental and no longer beneficial,” Taylor said. “These kids have come from being abused by the families and they are now subjected to abuse by the system.”

Sorenson, who has been with the Yuma County Attorney’s Office for the past 11 years, said he would like to see more stability when asked to describe his vision for the future of the judiciary in Yuma. He noted specifically that three new judges will have been appointed within the past six months.

While he thinks the court is doing its best, judges are still having to take on additional caseloads while bench seats are empty, the number of cases are increasing every year and a backlog has built up due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which have cause delays.

“I think it is a struggle when judges don’t know what caseloads they are going to be handling and the attorneys are having to ride that wave of instability,’ Sorenson said.

He added that he would like there to be enough judges on the bench to expedite the cases so that when someone appears in court, they won’t have to wait long to have their resolution.

The life of a case should go as long as the parties need it to. There are also many cases that don’t need to go that long,’ Sorenson said. “I would like to see the judiciary going forward be able to spread out the cases enough so that people coming before the bench can rely on the court to move cases forward in the future as quickly as possible.”

When asked during her interview about what her greatest strength as a perspective judge would be, Echavarria said it was her ability to think with her head and not her heart.

“While you have to be compassionate with people, I’m fair and impartial,” Echavarria said. “I think it is important to maintain the trust in our judiciary. I follow the law regardless of my emotions or personal opinions or beliefs.”

If appointed, Echavarria said she would like to implement more of the Administrative Office of the Courts pilot programs in Yuma County Superior Court and work to improve the technology that is currently in use, which she believes is vital to providing residents with access to justice.

In response to the question why the governor should select her for the position over the other candidates, Echavarria replied that she learned a lot serving as the Magistrate judge in San Luis and is ready to take that next step in her judicial career.

Under the Arizona Constitution, judges of the Superior Court in counties with a population of fewer than 250,000 are elected by the voters.

However, vacancies that occur are filled by gubernatorial appointments until the next election is held.

After each of the interviews, a member of the panel explained that they will review the applicant’s responses and make a recommendation to the governor, who will make the appointment within the coming days.