Tuesday morning, there were tears of joy, and tears of reflection in the Grant County Courthouse second floor courtroom, as the previous and new tenants of the space stood behind the bench.

Aug. 1 was the start of the new term for newlyelected Judge Lisa Riniker, who won the April election to succeed Judge Robert VanDeHey for the bench. Riniker raised her hand to be sworn-in by Judge Craig Day, who will be moving up to the third floor courtroom, while Riniker will be moving from her first floor District Attorney Office into the second floor courtroom.

After she took the oath of office, and her husband, Josh Kiley, helped her slip on her robe for the first official time, Riniker could only think of one person, her mother Carol, who had passed away weeks after she won April’s election for the post.

“My mother meant the world to me, and not having her here was extremely difficult,” Riniker reflected on later in the day. Judge Riniker talked about how her mother was a single mom and, as an only child, the two had an extremely strong bond that connected them very closely.

“She showed me what it was to be strong, resilient, and able to do anything you put your mind to,” Riniker said about her mother. “Without her, I wouldn’t be where I am.”

In reaching the post of judge, Riniker becomes the first woman elected to the post, and she hopes it It is such an honor to be the first woman judge in Grant County.

“I hope that I can inspire girls of all ages to make tough decisions and work hard for what they want to achieve.”

Despite having been working in the courthouse since 2005, when she was first elected as the county District Attorney, Riniker noted the transition, taking off that district attorney hat for her new judge one has her still thinking about her now old job.

“It has certainly been a challenging transition from DA to judge. I still find myself worrying about the caseload and the people that I worked with for so many years. However, I know that the new DA will do a great job for the people of Grant County.”

The newly-appointed District Attorney, Ian Mickelson, was sworn in right before Riniker Tuesday morning as well.