By Adam Gaub | Casa Grande Dispatch
Pinal County Superior Court Judge Robert Carter Olson announced his retirement plans last month, creating the third judicial vacancy on the court in about a year.
Applications for the bench were accepted through Monday, and on Tuesday, the Pinal County Commission on Trial Court Appointments announced it had received eight applications.
The commission is scheduled to meet Jan. 22 to interview the applicants and will then recommend a minimum of three candidates to Gov. Jan Brewer for her final selection. The candidates are Dwight Callahan, Karl Eppich, Danielle Harris, Kelly Neal III, Kathryn Pierce, Craig Raymond, Delia Neal and Lawrence Wharton.
Some of those names will be familiar to the commission, which was first put to work last year in recommending a handful of judges to replace retiring Judge Boyd Johnson. Hank Gooday, a Republican, was selected by Brewer.
Of the applicants for Olson’s seat, Harris, Raymond and Wharton applied for Johnson’s seat last summer.
