Idaho federal courts administrator Libby Smith to leave for 9th Circuit post
Elizabeth “Libby” Smith, clerk of court for the federal courts in Idaho, has been named the new circuit executive of the 9th Circuit; she will start her new job next month. Smith has managed administrative services for the U.S. District Court and U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Idaho since 2009, including federal court operations in Boise, Coeur d’Alene, Moscow and Pocatello.
“Libby has done an amazing job for us and done so under very trying circumstances,” said Idaho Chief Judge B. Lynn Winmill, who noted that the district has seen lean budget years, has built-in geographic challenges, and is currently down to just one active federal district judge, while the state awaits the nomination and confirmation of a new one to replace longtime Judge Edward Lodge, who took senior status in July of 2015. “We are a much stronger district due to Libby’s efforts,” Winmill said. “She will be missed.”
Smith, 51, who previously held multiple positions with federal and state courts in Michigan, holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in business from Walsh College. She was recognized as one of three recipients of the Administrative Office Director’s Award for Outstanding Leadership in 2016, the highest honor for judicial branch employees; and has served on numerous court councils and conferences at the regional and national level.
Smith will lead the Office of the Circuit Executive, whose 38 employees provide serve all of the federal courts of the circuit, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the federal trial and bankruptcy courts in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, the U.S. Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
