June 8, 2022 3:40 a.m.

On Tuesday, Governor Kate Brown announced that she will appoint Steve Hoddle and Robert Johnson to the Douglas County Circuit Court.

A release said Hoddle will fill Position 2, replacing Judge William Marshall, while Johnson will fill Position 4, replacing Judge Frances Burge. Both appointments are effective immediately.

Last month, Hoddle and Johnson each won a majority of votes in their judicial elections in Douglas County. The Governor’s appointments will allow both to begin their judicial service before the start of their elected terms, ensuring a smooth transition to the Douglas County bench.

Hoddle has been a prosecutor with the Douglas County District Attorney’s office since 2008 and, for fifteen months before that, was a deputy district attorney for the Coos County District Attorney’s Office. He received his law degree from the Willamette University College of Law in 2006.

Johnson obtained his law degree from the University of Oregon Law School in 2014. After law school, he served as a law clerk with the Douglas County Circuit Court before starting as an attorney at Douglas County Law in 2016. Since 2018, he has been an attorney at the law firm of Dole Coalwell, where he is currently a partner.