Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 9, 1993 TAG: 9312090126
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Ray Grubbs, a General District Court judge serving primarily in Radford and Montgomery County, announced this week he will make a bid for the seat.
Until now, Patrick Graybeal, juvenile and domestic relations judge and former Montgomery County commonwealth's attorney, was the only announced candidate.
Several lawyers already have announced their interest in replacing Graybeal on the lower court bench should the General Assembly appoint him. Grubbs' decision to seek the nomination throws a twist into the lower court race.
Lawyers say some of the candidates for Graybeal's seat may not necessarily be interested in becoming a General District Court judge should Grubbs receive the nod. And, others who weren't interested in replacing Graybeal might be interested in Grubbs' seat.
The Bar Association will meet next Thursday to decide on an endorsement. At a meeting earlier this month, the bar also decided it would offer its endorsement for the Pulaski-Giles circuit judgeship, which will be open when Circuit Judge Dow Owens retires in June. The bar also planned to vote on an endorsement for the juvenile judgeship should Graybeal receive the nomination.
Grubbs has been a general district judge since 1988, when he was appointed by the General Assembly to fill a new seat in the 27th Judicial District. Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, and members of the Montgomery-Floyd-Radford Bar Association had sought to create that judgeship for years because of overloaded dockets.
The judicial district covers the counties of Montgomery, Floyd, Giles, Pulaski, Wythe, Bland, Grayson and Carroll, plus the cities of Galax and Radford.
Grubbs, from Christiansburg, was a substitute judge primarily in Roanoke before taking the full-time judgeship. Before that, he had practiced law in Christiansburg since 1969, originally sharing a practice with Devore and then working on his own.
He attended Hampden-Sydney College and graduated from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., in 1969.
Graybeal, 61, has been juvenile and domestic relations judge for the 27th Judicial District since June 1989.
Prior to that, he was Montgomery County's commonwealth's attorney for 25 years.
The Pulaski County Bar Association is scheduled to meet Tuesday to endorse a candidate to replace Owens, who generally presides in Pulaski and Giles counties and is retiring in June.
Several names have surfaced for that judgeship. They are: Mike Barbour, a Pulaski County lawyer; Colin Gibb, a Giles County lawyer; Woody Lookabill, clerk of court for Pulaski County; Wayne Sawyers, a Pulaski County lawyer; Everett Shockley, Pulaski County's commonwealth's attorney; and Frank Terwilliger, town attorney for Pulaski.
The Giles County Bar Association has put its support behind Gibb, President Phillip Steele said. The Giles bar had scheduled a meeting on Dec. 28 to endorse a candidate for Devore's seat, but that was before Grubbs announced his interest, Steele said.
Other candidates could emerge at bar association meetings across the circuit.
After the local bar associations endorse candidates, the General Assembly's Courts of Justice committees interview candidates and the Democratic caucuses of the House and Senate make a recommendation that is then ratified by the full General Assembly.
by CNB