The list of nominees to become Cherokee County's third State Court judge was finalized on Tuesday.

All 15 of the original nominees turned in applications to the state Judicial Nominating Commission to be consid-ered for the post.

"I didn't have anyone withdraw in Cherokee County. Usually, one or more withdraws for whatever reason," said Barbara Watson, assistant to Judicial Nominating Commission Chairman Michael Bowers. People could nominate themselves or be nominated by someone else for the new judgeship.

The nominees include Cherokee County Solicitor General David Cannon Jr. and Barry W. Hixson, chief assistant solicitor, as well as Cherokee County Magistrate Court Judges Nancy Carson and Joseph Oczkowski.

Dee Morris, who works for the Gilmer County District Attorney's Office, and attorney Channing Ruskell, a for-mer solicitor general for the county, both have been nominated, as has Jennifer Marcotte, a staff attorney for a Cobb County Superior Court Judge.

Woodstock attorneys Gregory A. Hicks, Hugh M. Dorsey III and Thomas Holbird Jr. and Canton attorneys Benson Chambers Jr., Jonathan A. Kesler, Nancy Pasterz, Jeffrey Rusbridge and Tim White were all nominated.

The next step for the nominees is an interview with the nominating commission on Oct. 13. From the group of 15 nominees, the commission will create a short list that will be given to the governor's office within a day or two, according to Mrs. Watson.

Gov. Sonny Perdue will arrange interviews with the finalists and then make his decision.

"The governor is going to be very busy," Mrs. Watson said, adding there are four other judge vacancies in Georgia that he is filling at the same time.

No timeline has been set for an announcement of the new judge. The initial term of office would continue through the end of 2010. An election would be held in November 2010 to determine who will fill the first full four-year term.

The nominees are:

Cannon Jr., 38, of Canton graduated from Mercer University and was admitted to the Georgia Bar Association in 1995. In his second four-year term as solicitor general, Cannon previously served in private practice in Canton.

Ms. Carson, 51, of Woodstock was first appointed as an associated magistrate judge in 2004 after being in private practice with Carson & Ruskell in Woodstock and serving as an assistant solicitor. She graduated from Georgia State University and was admitted to the bar in 1997.

Chambers, 51, of Macedonia is an attorney with the Canton firm of Bray & Johnson and serves as Canton city so-licitor. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson College of Law and was admitted to the bar in 1983.

Dorsey graduated from Duke University and was admitted to the bar in 1972.

Hicks, 52, of Towne Lake graduated from Mercer University and was admitted to the bar in 1983. He was an as-sistant district attorney for seven years before going into private practice in 1994.

Hixson has worked for 11 years for the county government, having served in the district attorney's office before joining the solicitor's office. He graduated from Tulane University and was admitted to the bar in 1995.

Holbird, 54, of Towne Lake graduated from Atlanta Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1993.

Kesler of Canton is an attorney in Canton and past president of the Blue Ridge Bar Association. He graduated from the University of Kentucky and was admitted to the bar in 1999.

Ms. Marcotte, 39, of Woodstock works as a staff attorney for Cobb County Superior Court Judge Dorothy Robin-son. She graduated from Southern Illinois University and was admitted to the bar in 1997.

Morris previously served as chief assistant district attorney in Cherokee. He graduated from the University of Georgia and was admitted to the bar in 1993.

Oczkowski, 38, of Woodstock is a part-time Cherokee County Magistrate Court judge. He graduated from John Marshall Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1999.

Ms. Pasterz, 46, of Canton works in the law firm of Nicholas Dodys in Atlanta. She graduated from Wayne State University and was admitted to the state bar in 1996.

Rusbridge, 35, of Canton works at Dyer & Rusbridge in Canton. He graduated from the University of Georgia and was admitted to the bar in 1999.

Ruskell, 54, of Woodstock served as solicitor general for six years and went on to form the Woodstock firm of Carson & Ruskell. He graduated from Emory University and was admitted to the bar in 1980.

White, 46, of Holly Springs is an attorney in Canton. He graduated from John Marshall Law School and was ad-mitted to the bar in 1998.