By Lake Tahoe News

El Dorado County Superior Court is officially down a judge with the resignation of Nelson Brooks.

Nelson Brooks

In February the Brooks family issued this statement to Lake Tahoe News, “Judge Brooks suffered a cardiovascular event last summer. He has not been medically cleared to work at this time and the family greatly appreciates all the caring concern that has been expressed by the public regarding this unfortunate event.”

The resignation was announced March 29.

Brooks was first appointed to the bench by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009, and was elected a year later to a six-year term with more than 75 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in a bitter battle in June 2016. He had 58.53 percent of the votes, while his opponent Roland Thiemann had 41.16 percent. The race garnered statewide scrutiny because it is almost unheard of for a sitting judge’s colleagues to support a challenger.

Brooks’ leave from the bench started in August. He had been collecting his full paycheck — $189,041 — until this week.

He presided over the family law, civil, and juvenile divisions. Most recently he was in Placerville’s criminal pretrial department.

Gov. Jerry Brown could appoint someone to fill out the remainder of Brooks’ term or it could remain vacant until the next election.

For now, the court will continue to use the Assigned Judges Program through the Judicial Council. These are visiting retired judges.