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Gov. Kaine eyes seats in Norfolk

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine could appoint three judges to Norfolk Circuit Court as soon as this week, according to sources familiar with the maneuvering among legislators and the governor’s staff.

Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, and Sen. Yvonne B. Miller, D-Norfolk, have been involved in a test of wills over the appointment of Virginia Beach City Attorney Les Lilley to a seat on the Virginia Beach Circuit Court.

Stolle has insisted on the appointment of Lilley, but Miller is miffed because her district includes a small portion of Virginia Beach and she was not consulted on the appointment. She favors General District Judge Gene A. Woolard for the vacancy.

Democrats have a 21-19 majority in the Senate, but Stolle has convinced his Republican colleagues in the House of Delegates to block the appointment of judges in Norfolk as long as Miller blocks the appointment of Lilley. Miller contends that Stolle has nothing to say about the Norfolk judgeships because the entire delegation is Democratic.

The latest development is that Sen. Ralph S. Northam, D-Norfolk, has agreed to support Lilley in the next General Assembly session and bring along at least one other Democratic senator with him in exchange for Stolle’s promise not to interfere with the appointment of the judges Kaine selects.

To make that happen, Northam would have to circumvent the usual procedure for selecting judges in a caucus of the party with the majority in each house.

In line for the Norfolk seats are Commonwealth’s Attorney John R. Doyle III, General District Judge Louis A. Sherman and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Judge Jerrauld C. Jones.

Hampton and Virginia Beach also have circuit court vacancies. But sources say the situations in both localities remain too dicey for Kaine to name circuit judges there. And the circumstances aren’t as dire. Only one seat is vacant in those jurisdictions.

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