Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald has appointed Adrianne N. Heely as judge of the District Family Court of the Second Circuit (County of Maui). Heely fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Geronimo Valdriz.

Heely is currently a deputy corporation counsel for the County of Maui. She was also a former deputy public defender on both Maui and Oahu and a litigation associate at the law firms of Ashford & Wriston, Hisaka Goto Yoshida Cosgrove & Ching, and the Law Offices of Frank K. Goto Jr.

Heely received her law degree from the University of Hawai`i William S. Richardson School of Law in 1998. She has been very active in providing pro bono services to the community. She sits on the Board of Examiners of the Hawaii Supreme Court and is the vice-president of the Maui County Bar Association. A former director of the Hawaii State Bar Association’s Young Lawyers’ Division, she also served as the chair of the organization’s Government Lawyers’ Section.

The chief justice appoints District Court and District Family Court judges from a list of not less than six nominees submitted by the Judicial Selection Commission.

If confirmed by the State Senate, Heely will serve in office for six years. Because the Chief Justice has the discretion to assign judges to the district or district family court calendars, Heely may serve in the District or District Family Courts.