Kotek appoints Eugene prosecutor Nathan J. Lichvarcik to Lane County bench

Gov. Tina Kotek appointed Nathan J. Lichvarcik to the Lane County Circuit Court bench, effective August 1, in a move that will reshape how criminal and other serious cases are handled in one of the county’s busiest public institutions. Lichvarcik will fill the vacancy created by Judge Debra K. Vogt’s upcoming resignation, and the timing gives the court only a short runway to absorb another change after a year of unusual turnover.

Lane County’s circuit court now has 17 judges, after the 2025 expansion added new judgeships to Oregon’s 2nd Judicial District. Those new seats were filled earlier this year by Allison Knight and Jessica May, both effective January 1, 2026. Lichvarcik’s arrival adds yet another shift to a bench that has already been growing and reorganizing.

Lichvarcik comes from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Eugene, where he prosecutes a variety of criminal cases. The governor’s office said he has worked in Eugene for 14 years and has served as branch supervisor for the Eugene and Medford offices since 2020. He also has taught Trial Advocacy at the University of Oregon Law School for the past 10 years. His background includes work as a federal prosecutor in New Mexico, a litigation associate with Sullivan and Cromwell in New York, and clerkships for federal judges in Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont.

That experience points toward a judge likely to land in the thick of the county’s criminal docket, where Lane County defendants, victims and families often wait on court scheduling, motions and hearings that can move only as fast as available judges allow. Circuit courts also handle civil and family matters, along with other serious proceedings, so an appointment like this affects more than one part of the system. A vacancy can change case assignments, courtroom calendars and the pace at which hearings are heard.

Vogt leaves behind a long record on the Lane County bench. The Oregon Judicial Department said she served as chief criminal judge for many years, spent four years as presiding judge in Lane County and served eight years on the Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability. She has been a Lane County Circuit Court judge since January 2007 and earned her law degree from Willamette University in 1994. Vogt is also set to become the judiciary’s first ombudsman under House Bill 2712, with that role beginning August 1.

In Oregon, circuit judges serve six-year terms in nonpartisan elections, and they can be assigned to specialty dockets such as drug court. That means Kotek’s appointment is not just a personnel change but a decision that can affect how Lane County’s courts manage criminal justice, family disputes and the steady pressure of cases moving through Eugene’s courthouse.