Justice Gordon Lerve takes up the new position after more than six years as the resident District Court Judge in Dubbo.

Wagga now joins Newcastle, Wollongong, Gosford Lismore, Dubbo and Tamworth/Armidale as a regional centre to have a permanent District Court Judge in residence.

Born in Urana and raised in Cootamundra, Judge Lerve rose through the ranks of Crown prosecuting to the Local Court bench where he was a familiar face in Albury from 2008-2012.

In his welcome address to the court, Barrister Rod Ford described Judge Lerve as being a robust intellectual lawyer who is scrupulously fair and learned in law.

“I certainly speak on behalf of the NSW Bar that the citizens of Wagga Wagga will be the beneficiary of Your Honour’s learning and fairness over the course of the next few years,” Mr Ford said. 

The ceremonial sitting also heard tales of Wagga’s fascinating legal history.

President of Southwest Slopes Law Society, Solicitor Julianne Carroll, said Wagga got its first Court of Petty Sessions 170 years ago in 1847, two years before it was gazetted as a village, and two years before the post office arrived.

In 1877 Ned Kelly’s younger brother, James Kelly, was sentenced in the Wagga Courthouse to ten years imprisonment for having stolen two horses from a Wagga hotelier.

However it was 1863, when Wagga’s Police magistrate Henry Baylis was bailed up by famous bushranger Dan “Mad Dog” Morgan and shot and wounded, that the incoming judge made some comparisons.

“I will be going about my daily business in Wagga Wagga but I hope that I do not suffer the same fate as Magistrate Baylis”, he said.

Before adjourning the sitting, Judge Lerve urged the local legal profession to work with the courts to streamline cases. 

“On a personal note, I am truly delighted to be here in Wagga Wagga. I have purchased property in Wagga Wagga. I have settled in and, as presently advised, I do not intend to move again,” Judge Lerve said to the gallery’s mirth.

“I have had five moves in 14 years and that is quite enough.”