Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday nominated one of her Cabinet officials to serve as chief judge on the Intermediate Court of Appeals and a veteran Honolulu prosecutor to the Circuit Court on O'ahu.

The governor selected Mark Recktenwald, the director of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, to replace James Burns as chief judge on the appeals court. Burns is retiring this year.

Glenn Kim, a deputy prosecuting attorney who has supervised domestic violence cases, was chosen for a vacancy in the First Circuit on O'ahu.

The state Senate has 30 days to hold confirmation hearings and decide on the two nominees.

"Mark is a person who is fair. He's able to work with people of all different backgrounds and points of view, and I believe will make an outstanding chief judge on the Intermediate Court of Appeals," Lingle said at an afternoon news conference at the state Capitol.

Lingle described Kim as "an outstanding individual. He is intellectually an extremely bright guy. He also is a person who will be fair, in my opinion, to anyone who comes before his court."

The governor picked the nominees from a list of recommendations — six for each vacancy — from the state Judicial Selection Commission. Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, Attorney General Mark Bennett and senior policy advisor Linda Smith narrowed the list of candidates before the finalists were interviewed by the governor.

"Not being a lawyer, I'm most interested in the character of the person," Lingle said.

Recktenwald, as a Lingle Cabinet official, will likely be heavily scrutinized by Senate Democrats.

State Sen. Clayton Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has put the Lingle administration and the courts on notice that he expects full transparency about the backgrounds of nominees, including any records from the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

Hee said the nominees can expect fair and thorough confirmation hearings.

The Legislature in 2004 gave the appeals court — the state's second-highest court — greater jurisdiction over appeals, which could increase its workload. Recktenwald will probably face questions about his administrative skills and his lack of judicial experience.

"That will play into the discussion, but that won't be the final denouement," Hee said.

Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), said many senators anticipated that Lingle would choose Recktenwald after his name appeared on the candidate list. She said she has not heard any specific criticism about him but, like Hee, said questions about his administrative skills would likely come up.

"The issue that I believe will be foremost on the minds of the Judiciary Committee is whether Mark Recktenwald can administer the Intermediate Court of Appeals under its new structure," Hanabusa said.

Hee said he has heard positive descriptions about Kim. "I heard he's a really sharp guy. He comes with very high credentials. I heard he is very objective and, so, if all of that's true, then I think he'll make a fine judge," he said. "On the other hand, I'm not so naive to think that just because I've heard it means that it's so."

Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), said both nominees should be confirmed easily, but that he would take nothing for granted. "At face value, the support should be overwhelming," he said.

Recktenwald has been director of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs since 2003, and Lingle cited his work to reduce identity theft as an accomplishment. He is a former assistant U.S. attorney who handled civil and criminal matters, including white-collar and healthcare fraud cases and environmental protection cases. He also was a partner in the firm Marr Hipp Jones and Wang, where he did employment cases.

Recktenwald graduated from Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School. "It's been a dream of mine to have the opportunity to serve the people of Hawai'i by being a judge," he said.

Kim has been a prosecutor since 1993 and has handled several high-profile cases, including the manslaughter conviction of a Kane'ohe woman whose newborn baby died after she smoked crystal methamphetamine during her pregnancy. The Hawai'i Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2005.

Kim was a law clerk to Hawai'i Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Moon, an English instructor at Harvard University and an assistant professor of English at the University of Hawai'i.

Kim, who was awarded the Bronze Star for his Army service during the Vietnam War, graduated from UH and Harvard.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.