Sandoval to be sworn in as district judge

Brian Sandoval will officially resign from the attorney general's office and be sworn in today as a U.S. district judge in Reno.

President Bush signed the official appointment letter Thursday.

Sandoval's formal investiture will wait until January, when members of the U.S. Senate and other officials are present. But, he said, he wanted the swearing-in before family and friends to happen Oct. 31, the day Nevada was admitted to the union.

He will sit in Reno and succeed Judge Howard McKibben, who has taken senior status, which means he will continue to work but on a reduced caseload.

Sandoval, however, expects to face a workload of more than 400 cases when he takes the bench.

Sandoval, 42, a Republican, was elected attorney general in 2002. He was recommended for the judicial post by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and backed by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.

President Bush, who nominated him in March, was expected to quickly sign his court commission.

This is Sandoval's second chance for a nomination. He turned down an earlier judgeship offer from Reid.

Gov. Kenny Guinn has said he intends to appoint George J. Chanos, a Las Vegas corporate lawyer, to succeed Sandoval. Chanos has already said he intends to run for election to the position in 2006.

Chanos expects to be sworn in Tuesday. He said his goal is to build and run the best law firm in the state.

Chanos' wife, Adrianna, is Nevada's consumer advocate. She said earlier she would resign to avoid any appearance of conflict.