Senate committee forwards Kirk Nelson nomination to full Senate

The Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee on an aye voice vote approved a motion to send the gubernatorial appointment of Kirk Nelson of Blackfoot to the full Senate with a recommendation that he be confirmed.

The committee’s chair opened the item as the first agenda matter and Senator Wintrow moved to send the appointment to the Senate floor; Senator Ricks seconded the motion. After members signified their support verbally, the chair said the motion carried.

Kirk Nelson was introduced as a gubernatorial nominee to serve on the offender management board; the transcript records his residence as Blackfoot. The committee did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript and did not discuss Nelson’s background on the record during this meeting beyond noting his prior appearance before the committee at a prior meeting.

The committee chair suggested a senator familiar with Blackfoot carry the nomination on the floor and said staff would check with other Senators about final arrangements.

No formal objections or substantive debate about Nelson’s qualifications or the duties of the offender management board appear in the committee record for this meeting. The committee announced the motion passed by voice vote and moved on to other appointments on the agenda.