The Senate Rules and Judiciary Committee on Thursday unanimously advanced two of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.’s judicial nominees after a hearing that focused heavily on court backlogs, judicial independence in a small community and access to justice for residents without attorneys.
Lawmakers voted 7–0 to recommend Superior Court Judge Denise M. Francois for elevation to the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands and attorney Renee M. Andre for a judgeship on the Superior Court’s St. Thomas–St. John Division. Both nominations now head to the full Legislature.
Francois, a longtime Superior Court judge, pointed to her years on the trial bench and prior appellate experience as preparation for serving on the territory’s highest court.
She has served on the Superior Court since 2013 and currently oversees hundreds of active civil and criminal cases. As of late March, her caseload stood at 356 matters, most of them civil but including serious charges ranging from assault to homicide.
Beyond her trial work, Francois has served as a designated justice on the Virgin Islands Supreme Court and has sat on the Appellate Division of the District Court. She also played a key role in reshaping the territory’s civil procedure rules as the first chair of the Civil Rules Advisory Committee and now serves as administrative judge for the St. Thomas–St. John district.
“As a judge, my conduct, both on and off the bench, in public and in private, is governed by the Virgin Islands Model Code of Judicial Conduct,” Francois told lawmakers. “I aspire at all times to conduct myself in a manner that ensures the greatest public confidence in my independence, impartiality, integrity and competence.”
Andre, a St. Thomas native, framed her nomination as a continuation of her commitment to community and public service.
A graduate of Charlotte Amalie High School, she completed college in three years before earning her law degree from West Virginia University. Early in her career, she clerked for District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez, gaining experience in both trial and appellate matters.
She has since spent more than a decade in private practice, handling a broad range of cases, including criminal defense, civil litigation, family law, and corporate matters.
Andre told senators that her judicial temperament, described as calm, impartial, and respectful under pressure, would guide her work on the bench.
Much of the hearing focused on delays in the court system, with lawmakers pressing both nominees on how they would address long-standing complaints that cases move too slowly.
Francois pointed to structural constraints, explaining that judges have a limited number of trial days each year, far fewer than the number of cases assigned to them.
Andre acknowledged public frustration but emphasized that due process requires time and careful preparation. She said she would prioritize firm scheduling, early case management, and closer scrutiny of continuance requests to keep cases moving.
“If there is a backlog, I would have to implement case management systems to ensure that these cases move on a timely basis,” Andre said. “That also means ensuring that continuances have a basis and are not simply the result of a lack of preparation.”
Lawmakers asked both nominees how they would manage conflicts of interest and safeguard judicial independence.
Andre said she would follow judicial conduct rules on disclosure and recusal whenever potential conflicts arise, stating she would disclose those relationships to the parties and either seek waivers or step aside.
Francois told senators she would not allow outside pressure to affect her decisions and emphasized the strict prohibition on ex parte communications, or private one-sided contact about pending cases.
“Anybody who knows me knows that I am not going to be swayed or influenced to do anything that’s improper,” she said. “It’s just not going to happen.”
Lawmakers repeatedly returned to how the courts serve residents who cannot afford legal representation.
Andre said she supports practical steps such as using plain-language communication in court, providing standardized forms and expanding self-help resources to assist people navigating the system on their own.
Francois said judges already try to read filings from self-represented litigants with some flexibility, working to understand the arguments even when they are not framed in formal legal terms.
By the end of the hearing, senators signaled support for both nominees ahead of a full legislative vote.
