AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills announced Monday that Houlton resident Stephen Nelson has been nominated for the Maine Superior Court.
Nelson was one of four individuals nominated by Gov. Mills to either the Maine Supreme Judicial Court or Maine Superior Court.
Governor Mills also nominated attorney Catherine Connors of Kennebunk and Superior Court Justice Andrew M. Horton of Falmouth to Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court and attorney Thomas McKeon of Falmouth to the Superior Court.
A native of Houlton, Nelson has 17 years of experience as an attorney and judge in Aroostook County, as well as having served as president of the Maine State Bar Association. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine and University of Maine School of Law.
He is being nominated to succeed Superior Justice Harold Stewart who is moving to Cumberland County to fill one of the vacancies created by the retirements of Superior Court Justices Roland Cole and Nancy Mills.
Nelson was appointed as a District Court Judge by former Gov. Paul LePage in March 2018.
“With vast experience, sharp intellect, and measured temperament, these nominees are of the highest caliber,” said Gov. Mills in a press release. “I am confident that, with their wealth of legal knowledge and proven abilities, they will render fair and impartial justice to the people of our great state.”
Prior to becoming a District Court judge, Nelson served as a lawyer and partner at the Houlton-based firm, Severson, Hand and Nelson, where he specialized in family law, small business representation, civil litigation and estate planning.
Gov. Mills will also nominated recently retired Justice Jeffrey Hjelm of Camden as an active retired associate justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, and recently retired Justices Roland Cole of Wells and Nancy Mills of Cornville to serve as active retired justices of the Superior Court.
