The nominees are M. James Brady, of Mapleton; Lorie D. Fowlke, Provo; Wasatch County Attorney Thomas L. Low; Assistant Attorney General Darold McDade, Pleasant Grove, and Leslie Slaugh, Orem.

A 10-day public comment period will be held before the names are submitted to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

Fourth District Nominating Commission Chair Kevin Worthen is accepting written comments regarding the nominees at Administrative Office of the Courts, P.O. Box 140241, Salt Lake City, UT, 84114-0241.

The deadline for written comments is 5 p.m. on April 5.

The commission may request further interviews or an investigation of the nominees after reviewing public comments. After the names are sent to the governor, he has 30 days to select a candidate.

The governor's nominee is then forwarded to the Senate Confirmation Committee, which reviews the nominee's qualifications and conducts a public hearing and interview session.

The Senate Confirmation Committee will forward the final nominee to the Utah State Senate, which has 60 days from the governor's nomination to confirm the nominee.

Schofield was appointed to the 4th District Court in 1993 by then-Gov. Mike Leavitt.

He earned his law degree at Brigham Young University in 1976.

He was a U.S. District Court law clerk for two years, then worked in private practice until his appointment to the bench.