SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday announced appointments for judicial vacancies in the Fifth and Eighth Judicial Districts.

– Thomas E. Lilley: Fifth Judicial District Court
– Melissa A. Kennelly: Eighth Judicial District Court

Thomas Lilley has over three decades of experience in private practice, primarily representing personal injury cases in Roswell since 1986. He has been a member of the Chaves County Bar Association since 1983 and is an active youth sports coach in his community. Lilley earned his law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1983 and was admitted to the New Mexico bar the same year.

Melissa Kennelly is currently an attorney with the Eighth Judicial District Court in Taos and has worked in New Mexico law since 2010, in addition to previously serving as the first female police officer in the Broadview Heights Police Department in Broadview, Ohio. She is a member and current commissioner of the Acequia de los Molinos and was previously a member of the New Mexico State Bar Ethics Advisory Committee. Kennelly earned her law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2010 and was admitted to the New Mexico bar the same year.