A bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Bill Richardson will add another state District Court judgeship in Santa Fe.

The new position — which pays $111,500 a year — will come at no immediate cost to taxpayers because the First Judicial District, which includes Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties, will eliminate the domestic relations hearing officer position now held by Barbara Michael, according to a fiscal impact report from the Legislature.

The difference between Michael's current salary of $89,304 and the new judge's salary will be made up from an existing court fund for contract employees, the statement said.

First Judicial District Chief Judge Stephen Pfeffer said Wednesday he hopes the new judge will be seated and working within two months. The district will solicit applications, then a nominating commission will screen the applicants and forward a list of names to Richardson, who will appoint the judge, Pfeffer said.

The new judge initially will handle domestic-violence cases but likely will take on other responsibilities as well, he said.

The new position will be an improvement over the hearing officer because a judge can make his or her own decisions — unlike a hearing officer who must obtain a judge's consent — and can handle other cases besides just domestic violence, Pfeffer said.

Michael, who was appointed to replace Margaret Kegel late last year, knew when she was appointed that the district would be eliminating her position if the bill passed, Pfeffer said.

The First Judicial District has a "critical need" for a new judge, based on a 2007 study by the New Mexico Sentencing Commission and the National Center for State Courts. The study indicated the district needed 3.58 additional judges, according to the fiscal impact statement. The new judge will be the district's eighth.

However, the person who is tapped for the new judgeship will have a bit of work to do even before he or she is appointed. The new judgeship will appear on the June ballot, meaning candidates will have to collect signatures authorizing their appearance on the ballot by March 16, said Gilbert Gallegos, the governor's spokesman.

Since it's unlikely the new judge will be appointed by then, prospective candidates will have to gather the signatures before the governor makes the appointment, he said.

"It's kind of an odd situation," Gallegos said.

The district has seen two new judges recently, including Sarah Singleton, who was appointed to replace Jim Hall in December, and Sheri Raphaelson, who replaced Tim Garcia in Rio Arriba County in March. Hall retired and Garcia moved to the state Court of Appeals.

Meanwhile, the nominating commission forwarded four names to Richardson on Friday of people who want to replace District Judge Daniel Sanchez, who is retiring. Those names are T. Glenn Ellington, Mary Marlowe-Sommer, Francis Mathew and David Thomson.

The same bill that authorized the new Santa Fe judge also provided a new Magistrate judge position in Doña Ana County.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com