The search to fill vacant federal judgeships in Southern Illinois has yielded three highly qualified candidates, a spokesperson for Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun’s office said.

The finalists chosen by the committee are top-notch, said Michael Briggs, press secretary for Braun, D-Ill. All of these nominees are very qualified to fill the federal judge seats.

Illinois Circuit Court Judge David R. Herndon of East Alton and Belleville attorneys Russell K. Scott and Michael J. Reagan were chosen by the nine-member merit commission appointed by Braun and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

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The commission, comprised of various members of the legal and political community, submitted their recommendations to Braun and Durbin last month. The committee, headed by Edwardsville attorney J. William Lucco, was responsible for reviewing the applicants and narrowing the field to three finalists.

Among the other members of the commission are Paul D. Giamanco of Mt. Vernon, Eugene E. Gross of Du Quoin, Robert Howerton of Marion, Jackson County Assistant State’s Attorney Sheila Simon and SIUC political science faculty member Barb Brown.

The senators are scheduled to interview the three finalists next week after reviewing evaluations made by the Illinois State Bar Association. Recommendations will be made to President Clinton following the interviews.

The recommendations should be sent to Clinton within a week of the interviews and should go before the Senate within two to six months after Clinton receives them, a spokesperson for Durbin’s office said.

Braun, the state’s senior senator, made Durbin a partner in the merit selection system. The system was designed to open the process to all interested applicants and to help the senators and the president choose the most qualified nominees for the federal judgeships.

There are seven vacancies in the federal courts in Illinois. Clinton has sent four nominees to the Senate so far, Briggs said.

There are three judicial districts in Illinois:Northern, Central and Southern. There are 22 seats in the Northern District. There are four seats in the Central District and four seats in the Southern District. Of the four seats in the Southern District two are vacant.

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Applicants submit their names to the panel for review. The names of the three finalists are submitted to the senior senator from the party of the president, who submits a recommendation to the president for nomination. The White House reviews the nominees and runs background checks through the FBI and the American Bar Association. When cleared, the president then submits the nominees to the Senate.

These individuals were chosen because they posses the legal credentials, experience and temperament to be excellent federal judges, Lucco said.