Snipes Ruiz Sworn in Tuesday as 12th Judicial District Judge

HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – On Tuesday morning, Kaydee Snipes Ruiz was sworn in as district judge for the 12th Judicial District at the Hill County Courthouse. 17th Judicial District Judge Yvonne Laird administered the oath of office, filling the seat that has been open since Judge Dan Boucher retired in November after eight years on the bench.

Snipes Ruiz’s first concern is to handle the scheduling.

“Because we haven’t had a sitting district court judge since November, we’ve had judges kind of filling in for the various, you know, criminal and civil matters that have come through. So just getting a handle on the schedule and that’s really what I’m going to be doing this first week is figuring out what cases I can’t take, because of conflicts, what cases I can take, and working on that schedule.”

The 12th Judicial District covers Hill, Liberty and Chouteau Counties.

Snipes Ruiz formerly worked for the State Public Defender’s office in Havre.