COEUR d’ALENE — Regina McCrea will fill a newly-established position as a district judge for Idaho’s First Judicial District, Idaho Gov. Brad Little announced Friday.

The Idaho Legislature created the new judicial position during the 2025 session, increasing the number of district judges in the First Judicial District from seven to eight. The First Judicial District includes the five northern counties. McCrea will be chambered in Kootenai County.

“It is a great privilege to accept this role and I am sincerely thankful for the trust Gov. Little has placed in me through this appointment,” McCrea said in a news release. “I am committed to carrying out the duties of this office with fairness, transparency and fidelity to the rule of law.”

McCrea is a is a trial attorney with over 20 years of experience in private practice, focusing on personal injury, wrongful death, medical and legal malpractice and general civil disputes. She was a partner with the firm Owens, McCrea and Linscott, practicing there from 2007 to 2024, and has been a solo practitioner with McCrea Law since last summer.

She earned her undergraduate degree from Harding University, and juris doctorate from University of Arkansas at Little Rock.  

McCrea served on the Community Library Network board of trustees from 2016 to 2023.

When a judicial vacancy occurs, Idaho’s governor appoints a judge from a list of at least three qualified candidates provided by the Idaho Judicial Council. Judges then run in nonpartisan elections to remain on the court.