Nevada County Superior Court assignments for the coming year were released this week, with a vacancy created by the continued absence of Judge Julie McManus.

McManus has been absent from family law court on medical leave since March 3, the day before she was scheduled to be in San Francisco for a meeting of a collaborative justice courts advisory committee. She missed that meeting after having car trouble in Sacramento, according to Nevada County Superior Court Executive Officer Sean Metroka.

The judges voted to extend Judge Thomas M. Anderson's tenure as presiding judge through 2012 and also to extend Judge Candace S. Heidelberger's tenure as assistant presiding judge.

McManus had been assigned to Dept. 3, the family law court; Judge B. Scott Thomsen will take over that department, leaving a vacancy in Dept. 2.

Thomsen has substantial experience in family law. He became certified as a family law specialist in 1996 and served on the statewide Elkins Family Law Task Force, which was tasked with making recommendations to increase access to justice, ensure due process, and provide for more effective and consistent rules, policies and procedures in family courts.

Prior to his appointment last year, he served as court commissioner since 2005, handling family law cases.

All other courtroom assignments will remain as currently assigned, said Metroka. Heidelberger remains in Dept. 1, Anderson in Dept. 4 and Sean Dowling in Dept. 6.

Metroka confirmed that McManus still is on medical leave.

“I don't know anything more,” he said. “Her status is unknown.”

Her seat in Family Court is now being filled by Judge Jane York Punneo from the state's assigned judge program, which is staffed by retired judges. The state's cost to fill a judge's seat is $715.15 per day, said Administrative Office of the Courts spokesman Philip Carrizosa — an estimated cost of more than $125,000 so far.

California Superior Court judges earn $178,789 annually, according to the Administrative Office of Courts.

If McManus remains on leave, the empty seat in Dept. 2 also would be filled by the assigned judge program, Metroka said.

McManus was appointed to the bench in December 2005 and ran unopposed for election in June 2008; her term expires in 2014. Judges up for election in 2012 include Anderson, Thomsen and Judge Robert Tamietti, who is currently assigned to Truckee.

McManus was also on medical leave for at least three weeks in 2009, after being hospitalized for injuries she sustained in a 15-foot fall from the deck of her home.

Metroka said any concerns over McManus' continued absence are not the local court's issue, but are the responsibility of the Commission on Judicial Performance and the Judicial Council.

The commission is an independent state agency that investigates complaints of judicial misconduct and judicial incapacity and disciplines judges. Its authority is limited to investigating allegations of judicial misconduct and, if warranted, imposing sanctions ranging from confidential discipline to removal from office.

Commission spokeswoman Victoria Hanley would not comment on McManus, saying all complaints and investigations are confidential.

The commission can retire a judge for a disability that seriously interferes with duties and is likely to become permanent, she said, adding there is no timeline for that.

A judge can apply for voluntary disability retirement, but Hanley confirmed there is no such application on file for McManus.

A judge also can be removed for a “persistent failure or inability to perform judicial duties,” Hanley said, adding that there currently are no public proceedings involving McManus.

To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4229.