A Santa Fe lawyer who has worked for the state Attorney General's Office for the past decade will be the newest state district judge in Santa Fe.

Gov. Bill Richardson on Thursday appointed Deputy Attorney General David K. Thomson, 41, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Daniel Sanchez.

"Dave Thomson has been serving the people of New Mexico through his work at the Attorney General's Office for more than ten years and I am certain that his experience will be valuable to the Court," Richardson said in an e-mailed announcement.

Thomson said Thursday that, like Sanchez, he will hear mainly divorce and domestic cases.

For the past four years, Thomson has been Attorney General Gary King's deputy overseeing the Civil Law Division, the Environmental Division, the Consumer Protection Division and others. He also has served as acting director of the AG's Litigation Division.

He's known as "the tobacco guy" because he has been responsible for enforcement of state laws regulating tobacco sales and distribution.

"And I still maintain my own civil caseload," he said in a telephone interview. One recent case with which he's been involved is the White Peak land exchange. The attorney general this month convinced the state Supreme Court to temporarily halt ongoing a controversial land swap — instigated by the State Land Office — of state trust land for private land around White Peak in northeastern New Mexico.

Phil Sisneros, spokesman for King, said, "Everyone here is happy for him, but sad we're losing him. David will be hard to replace."

A Democrat, Thomson said he'll seek election to a full term as judge this year.

"I was born and raised in Santa Fe," he said. He graduated from Santa Fe High School in 1987, where he played on the Demon basketball team. He's been married for a year to Patricia Romero, whom he met in high school.

Thomson earned his bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University and his law degree from the University of Denver College of Law. Before going to work for the Attorney General's Office, he was a law clerk for the for U.S. District Judge Bruce Black.

Richardson chose Thomson from a nominating committee's short list that included former District Judge T. Glenn Ellington, Mary Marlowe-Sommer and Francis Mathew.

Thomson is the third judge appointed in recent months in the First Judicial District, which includes Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties. Richardson appointed Sarah Singleton to replace Jim Hall, who retired in December, and Sheri Raphaelson to replace Tim Garcia, who was appointed to the state Court of Appeals in March.

The governor this week signed a bill creating a new judgeship in the district, which now has seven. Richardson is expected to fill that $111,500-a-year position in the coming weeks.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.