Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday announced that attorney and former County Council member Randal Grant Bolosan Valenciano is her nominee for a vacant 5th Circuit Court judgeship.

She selected him from among six names submitted by the state Judicial Selection Commission. The state Senate must confirm the nomination before Valenciano can take the bench.

"Randal Valenciano's well-rounded background as a private attorney, prosecutor, public defender, as well as his service as a councilmember will give him a broad perspective as a judge," Lingle said in a statement announcing the nomination.

Valenciano's law degree is from the University of Washington School of Law. He was raised on Kaua'i and served as a deputy public defender in Ho-nolulu and deputy prosecutor on Kaua'i before opening his private legal practice.

He served on the Kaua'i County Council from 1990 to 2002, taking office as a Democrat before county elections became nonpartisan. He ran for mayor and lost in a four-way nonpartisan race that saw Republican Bryan Baptiste elected to the county's top post.

If confirmed, Valenciano will join Judge Kathleen Watanabe, who was a 2005 Lingle appointee, in the 5th Circuit, which covers Kaua'i and Ni'ihau.

The circuit's vacancy was created with the retirement last year of long-time judge George Masuoka.