Idaho Statesman
October 22, 2009

Idaho Court of Appeals Judge John M. Melanson was sworn in Wednesday by Idaho Governor Butch Otter at the Idaho Supreme Court.

Melanson is a 1966 graduate of Blackfoot High School, a 1978 graduate of Idaho State University (B.B.A.) and a 1981 graduate of the University of Idaho College of Law (J.D.).

Melanson is a U.S. Army veteran having served in Vietnam in with the 9th Infantry Division as a hovercraft operator.

He practiced law in Buhl, Idaho from 1981 through 1994 and received the Idaho State Bar Pro Bono Publico Award in 1994.

In 1995 he was appointed Magistrate Judge for Lincoln County, a position in which he served until December 2000 when former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne appointed him District Judge for the Fifth District with chambers in Minidoka County.

He was elected to that position in 2002 and reelected 2006.

The Idaho Supreme Court appointed Judge Melanson presiding judge of the Snake River Basin Adjudication in 2003. Melanson was appointed to the Idaho Court of Appeals by Otter earlier this year.