George Southworth, a magistrate judge in Canyon County since 2006, is now a 3rd District Judge, Gov. Butch Otter announced Wednesday.

Southworth, 59, lives in Nampa and helped establish Canyon County’s Veterans Treatment Court last March. A graduate of Idaho State University and the University of Utah law school, was a deputy prosecutor in Bannock County and a private-practice attorney in Pocatello before he was appointed as a magistrate.

“Judge Southworth’s excellent record as a magistrate and his familiarity with the Canyon County community highly recommend him for this position,” Otter said in a news release.

“The vacancy he is filling stems from Judge (Renae) Hoff’s guilty plea to drunken driving after an arrest last summer,” the news release states. “Her retirement was effective Jan. 4.”

Hoff, a longtime 3rd District judge, was arrested Aug. 25 in Meridian and pleaded guilty to DUI last month. Her sentence includes 32 hours of community service, a fine of $750 and court costs.

Southworth was one of seven applicants for the post. The Idaho Judicial Council selected him and Nampa attorney Christopher Nye as finalists to submit to Otter.

Idaho's Third Judicial District includes Canyon, Owyhee, Adams, Gem, Payette and Washington counties.