Tommy Rodella was first appointed to fill a vacant position on Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court by Governor Bill Richardson. Richardson asked for Rodella's resignation just 4 months later after Rodella went to the county jail in Tierra Amarilla to seek the release of an acquaintance suspected of drunken driving. Rodella refused to step down and was reelected to his judicial post in 2006. He was then removed from the bench in May 2008 by the New Mexico Supreme Court for misconduct.