NMI Deputy Attorney General Lillian Tenorio was nominated by Governor Arnold Palacios to the NMI Superior Court last November. 

Tenorio's Senate confirmation hearings are set for January 18 on Tinian, January 24 on Saipan, and January 25 on Rota according to Senator Celina Babauta who is the chair of the Senate's Executive Appointments and Government Investigations Committee. 

"It is important to hear from the constituents of those islands with respect to judicial nominees. I have EAGI hearings in those Municipalities for other nominees as well," Sen. Babauta told KUAM News.

Tenorio is required to appear for all three hearings. Babauta said Senate rules allow nominees to appear virtually if they are within the CNMI.

Tenorio’s nomination comes after Judge Wesley Bogdan retired last year.

She currently serves as the primary legal counsel for the departments of the Executive Branch under the AG’s Office.  Before joining the office, she ran a law firm representing a wide range of cases. In the early 2000s, she was the legal counsel for the NMI House of Representatives. 

She received her bachelor of arts degree from the University of California, Davis in 1984, and earned her juris doctorate from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1999.