PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Family Court Chief Judge Haiganush Bedrosian has selected a state prosecutor, a court-appointed special advocate and a lawyer who represents the city Board of Licenses to serve as magistrates in the court she oversees.
Bedrosian has nominated Paul T. Jones Jr., licensing board lawyer; Assistant Attorney General Feidlim Gill; and Rossie Lee Harris Jr., former counsel for the Department of Children, Youth and Families.
All the nominees will go before the state Senate for consideration. If approved, Harris would become the first African-American Family Court magistrate.
The senate will also in the coming weeks weigh Supreme Court Justice Paul Suttell's selection of Providence Municipal Court Judge Joseph A. Abbate as a Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal magistrate.
The starting salary for magistrates, who serve 10-year terms, is $139,897.