Bryan names attorney general and agriculture commissioner nominees

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. announced on April 11 that he had nominated Ariel M. Smith for attorney general and Dr. Louis Petersen for commissioner of agriculture.

Smith was serving as chief of the Civil Division in the Virgin Islands Department of Justice. Government House said she previously served as an assistant territorial public defender and worked as an associate at a local law firm.

She was nominated to replace acting Attorney General Carol Thomas Jacobs, who was undergoing the nomination process for a seat on the Virgin Islands Superior Court.

Petersen was serving as an assistant director at the University of the Virgin Islands School of Agriculture and previously served as assistant commissioner and commissioner of the Department of Agriculture.

He was nominated to replace Agriculture Commissioner Positive Nelson, who was moving to a new role as special policy adviser to the governor. Government House said Nelson would coordinate the interagency effort to implement the territory's adult-use cannabis law and lead public information and education on the law's implementation.

Bryan also announced Yvette Ross-Edwards as his nominee for a Superior Court seat on St. Croix. Government House said Ross-Edwards received her law degree from Albany School of Law and was admitted to the Virgin Islands Bar in 1992.

Government House said Thomas Jacobs and Judge Harold Willocks were scheduled to appear before the Legislature's Rules and Judiciary Committee for nomination hearings.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/governor-bryan-introduces-two-new-members-of-his-cabinet/