ROCK SPRINGS — Rock Springs Attorney Clark Stith says he feels honored and humbled following his selection to serve as a district court judge.

Stith will succeed District Court Judge Richard Lavery when Lavery steps down April 18. Gov. Mark Gordon announced Stith’s selection last week, one month after the state’s judicial nominating commission announced Stith, Green River Municipal Court Judge Jason Petri and Jessica Frint, an attorney working in the Wyoming Attorney General’s Tort Litigation Unit, were finalists in consideration for the role. Stith said Petri and Frint were great nominees for the position, saying Petri in particular is highly qualified for the position.

Stith said he intends to be a judge worthy of Gordon’s appointment, saying he will resolve cases in a speedy, unbiased, and judicious manner. In Wyoming, while circuit court and district court judges are appointed to their positions, voters have the option to retain or dismiss a judge during an election. Stith said there have been instances where voters rejected a judge, which resulted in the Judicial Nominating Commission nominating three new candidates for the governor to appoint a replacement from. Stith sees Wyoming’s district court judges as the umpires who will “call the balls and strikes” during court proceedings.

Stith said one of the challenges he’s currently working through is passing on the caseload he has through his private practice. Stith said he mainly works with civil litigation and isn’t concerned with being able to find another attorney to handle much of his caseload, though he has two pro bono cases involving state politics that he admits might be a challenge to find an attorney for. One is a civil case involving the Hot Springs County GOP against the Wyoming GOP in a situation where the state party sought to overturn the result of county party leadership elections, while the other is a defamation suit Sweetwater County legislators Cody Wylie and J.T. Larson filed against the Wyoming Freedom PAC. An added wrinkle in the Larson and Wylie lawsuit is the fact that Lavery is the judge handling it, which will lead to it being reassigned if a resolution doesn’t occur before Stith is sworn in. 

Stith will also continue to navigate a unique situation after being sworn-in April 18. His son, Steven Anselmi-Stith is a prosecutor for the Sweetwater County Attorney’s Office and a conflict would arise if a case Anselmi-Stith is prosecuting is assigned to Stith. The future judge said it’s a situation the two already navigate with Stith’s private practice, which has occasionally involved criminal defense work. Stith said his son recuses himself in situations where the two would be opposing council. Stith said a fortunate aspect of the district court is that there is a second district court judge. Stith believes cases Anselmi-Stith is prosecuting will likely be assigned to Judge Suzannah Robinson. Stith also said county attorneys have the ability to reassign cases to different attorneys should a situation arise. 

“There will never be a time when I’m presiding over a case my son is representing the state in,” Stith said.

While Stith will be sworn in April 18, a formal robing ceremony is tentatively scheduled for May 29.