The Laramie City Council selected Joshua Merseal, a Laramie prosecutor, as the city’s newest municipal court judge last week.
The decision came after an extensive process involving Merseal and two other candidates, Jim Schermetzler and Anthony Gold. The final vote was 6-3 and came after a final 30 minute executive session.
Merseal has an eight-year military background, having spent four years in the Marines and four years in the Army. He said he is excited about his new position.
“It’s a position that allows me to have positive interactions with the community and helping the community. I expect it to be very challenging, very rewarding, it’ll be completely different from anything I’ve done prior,” Merseal said.
Merseal said he believes a major deciding factor for the city council was his recent applicable experience in criminal law and criminal procedure, which will help him in the role of municipal judge.
Councilwoman Andrea Summerville voted in favor of Merseal and praised his background in criminal law along with his drive and enthusiasm.
“His military experience for me was very important. He demonstrated with that military commitment and career that he’s held positions of leadership before and I found that to be a very important quality,” Summerville said.
For Councilman Joe Shumway, Merseal’s military background is not relevant to the position of municipal judge.
“Anything you do in your life prepares you for overall experience for jobs, but what we needed was broad experience in the legal profession and Mr. Merseal has a very limited experience in the legal profession,” Shumway said.
Shumway also said he believes Merseal will do a great job as municipal judge, but he said he felt fellow candidate Jim Schermetzler, who has over 30 years of experience in criminal law, would have been a better choice.
