The US Department of Interior is moving to fill the Associate Justice position on the High Court of American Samoa in the hope it will resolve a backlog of cases there.
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Associate Justice Lyle Richmond has been on medical leave and a District Court Judge has acted in the position for more than a year.
The Chief Justice and the Associate Justice of the High Court are appointed by the US Interior Secretary and both are federal employees with salaries paid by the US Department.
American Samoa governor, Lolo Matalasi Moliga, said he was informed that the Associate Justice position is now being advertised.
Lolo said he hoped members of the American Samoa Bar Association would take advantage of the opportunity.
He said he appreciated the action to fill the post given the growing backlog of cases at the High Court requiring adjudication.
The position is currently only advertised through a federal website which shows that the salary is just over $US125,000 annually.
