HARRISONBURG - The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Bar Association took the first step toward selecting a new circuit court judge last week by endorsing William Helsley for the position.

Helsley was the only lawyer to receive the approval of two-thirds of the bar members in attendance at a lunch meeting on Wednesday.

The endorsement is the first step in the long and highly political process of deciding who will succeed Judge John McGrath, who retires in March.

The judge, who the General Assembly is expected to select when it convenes next month, will serve the 26th District, which includes courts in Rockingham, Page, Shenandoah, Warren, Clarke and Frederick counties, and the cities of Winchester and Harrisonburg.

The judge will be based in Rockingham County Circuit Court in Harrisonburg.

Local lawyers and legislators say that even though the selection process has just begun, the local bar's endorsement makes Helsley a strong candidate.

Long Road Ahead

Helsley, 47, has practiced civil and criminal law in Harrisonburg for 22 years. He grew up in Elkton, the son of Noah W. and Goldie Helsley. His father served as an Elkton police officer for more than 30 years.

Helsley graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1982 and the University of Richmond's T.C. Williams School of Law in 1985.

In the 1990s, he served several terms as the chairman of the Rockingham County Democratic Committee.

"I'm very humbled to have received the bar's endorsement and consider it a great honor," Helsley said.

That the recommendation comes from the lawyers who will try cases in front of McGrath's successor, makes it more of an honor, he said.

Several members of the local bar say Helsley is a smart, successful lawyer, with an easygoing manner that would make him a good judge.

John C. Holloran called Helsley a courtroom veteran with the knowledge and experience to handle the variety of cases that circuit judges hear.

Political Considerations

No matter which political party is in power, political maneuvering often influences judicial selections, says David O'Donnell, who has known Helsley for 20 years.

"It's the beginning of a long process he's got to go through," he said. "It's not a rubber stamp by any stretch."

Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, said the Valley's legislators, all of whom are Republican, will recommend candidates to the General Assembly's Courts of Justice Committees, which will select the final nominee.

Then the GOP-controlled House of Delegates and the Senate, which now has a Democratic majority, will vote to approve that person. If both chambers can't agree, the decision falls to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat.

Hanger says that the bar's endorsement will improve Helsley's chances, but that other names are circulating as well.

"We tend to try and select the most qualified candidate," he said. "Hopefully, that's what we'll do."

Contact David Reynolds at 574-6278 or reynolds@dnronline.com