Wednesday was the deadline for applicants to submit their names to a panel created by US Representative Artur Davis, the senior Democrat in Alabama. The panel, which includes lawyers, judges and law school deans, will help Davis decide which names to forward to the White House for consideration.
Federal prosecutors are appointed by the president and subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Joyce Vance, Jim Sturdivant, Glenda Freeman and Michele Nicrosi are applying to succeed US Attorney Alice Martin, who will be leaving office after eight years since her appointment by President George W. Bush. US attorneys generally are of the same political party as the sitting president.
Vance, 48, has been with the US attorney’s office in Birmingham since 1991, and has been chief of the appellate division since 2005.
Sturdivant, 46, was an assistant US attorney in Birmingham from 1992 to 1995, serving in both the civil and criminal divisions. He also has been a judge advocate general in the Army. He practices with Sirote & Permutt.
Freeman has been a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society of Birmingham for several years. She is assigned to Jefferson County Family Court handling paternity cases.
Nicrosi, a Mobile-based lawyer, is applying for the top job in all three districts. She is in private practice with Miller, Hamilton, Snider & Odom, which has offices in Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile.