Officers
President – Scott Mitchell (AL)
Scott Mitchell was appointed Clerk of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals effective August 1, 2012, becoming the fifth clerk in the Court’s 113-year history. He was reared on a farm in Rosebud, Alabama, that has been in his family for six generations. He received his bachelor’s degree from Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina, where he majored in history and business administration with an emphasis in accounting. In 2002, he received his Juris Doctor from the University of Alabama School of Law.
After law school, Scott entered the practice of law in Montgomery, Alabama, with a civil defense litigation firm. In 2006, he began his career with the courts by serving as a staff attorney on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. From 2007 until 2011, he served first as a staff attorney and then as chief of staff and legislative liaison for the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. From 2011 until his appointment as Clerk, he served as an attorney in the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts.
Scott has been a member of the NCACC since he became Clerk in 2012. He has served on numerous committees, including the executive committee, and has served as chairman of the awards and resolutions committee, the nominating committee, the site selection committee, and the program committee. Scott and his wife Mary Martin are the proud parents of a son and are active members of St. John’s Episcopal Church.
President-Elect – Colette M. Nicolson Bruggman (CA)
Colette is a Mandan, North Dakota native and graduate of Mandan High School. Colette received her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of North Dakota in 1984 with a degree in accounting and her Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1987. Colette was admitted to the North Dakota bar in October 1987.
In January 2023, Colette was appointed as the Clerk Executive Officer for the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, in Sacramento, California after serving as the Assistant Clerk Executive Officer since February 2009. Previously, Colette was Chief Deputy Clerk for the North Dakota Supreme Court from July 1992 through February 2009. Prior to joining the North Dakota Supreme Court, Colette practiced law with the Vogel Law Firm in Mandan, North Dakota, and Legal Assistance of North Dakota in Bismarck.
Colette is a member of the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks, the State Bar Association of North Dakota, and the California Appellate Court Clerk Executive Officers (previously serving as its president).
Vice-President – Tim Gudas (NH)
Timothy A. Gudas became the Clerk of Court for the New Hampshire Supreme Court in January 2020, following nine years as the deputy clerk to Eileen Fox. From 1997 to 2011, he practiced civil and appellate litigation at Sulloway & Hollis, PLLC. From 1996 to 1997, Tim served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Sherman D. Horton, Jr. of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He earned his B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1989 and his J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1994. He is a member of the New Hampshire Bar Association’s Committee on Cooperation with the Courts and its Appellate Law Section.
Tim has been an active member of the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks since 2014. During that time, he has served stints on the Executive Committee, the Program Committee, the Convention Assistance Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee, and others. Most recently, Tim hosted the NCACC’s 51st annual conference in Burlington, Vermont, in 2024.
Tim and his wife Natalie live in Concord, New Hampshire, and are the proud parents of three grown children, Matt, Sarah, and Chloe.
Treasurer – Lonn Weissblum (FL)
Lonn Weissblum was appointed Clerk of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Florida, effective April 7, 2014. Before becoming the Clerk of the Court, Lonn served as a career staff attorney to the Honorable Jonathan D. Gerber of the Fourth District Court of Appeal. He also served as a law clerk to the Honorable David L. Levy of the Third District Court of Appeal and was in private practice.
Lonn received his B.A. in Psychology with Highest Honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997, and his J.D. with Honors from the University of Florida in 2001.
Lonn has been a member of the Commission on District Court of Appeal Performance and Accountability and the Florida Courts Technology Commission. In addition, he has served on the Appellate Court Website Technical Advisory Board and the Public Online Docket Advisory Group. Lonn also has achieved the Certified Court Manager and Certified Court Executive credentials from the National Center for State Courts’ Institute for Court Management.
Lonn has been a member of the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks since 2014. He has served on the conference’s Membership, Technology, and Scholarship committees, and previously served on the Conference’s Executive Committee.
Secretary – Claudia Jenks (TX)
Claudia Jenks has served as the Chief Deputy Clerk of the Supreme Court of Texas since March 2003. In that role, Claudia assists the Clerk of the Court in managing and supervising the operation of the Clerk’s Office. Prior to working for the Court, Claudia was employed in the Transportation Litigation Division at the Office of Attorney General where she processed filings for all the Assistant Attorney Generals who represented the Texas Department of Transportation, and distributed warrants on behalf of the agency for settlements and judgment claims. Claudia holds two bachelor’s degrees, in Speech and in Mass Communication, and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Texas State University-San Marcos. Claudia has been an active member of the NCACC since 2003 and has served on the Convention Assistance Committee numerous times.
Immediate Past President – Doug Shima (KS)
Doug Shima grew up in Rocky Ford, Colorado, a small farming community in southeastern Colorado, along the Arkansas River. Doug attended Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, and then Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas, graduating in 1994. He started his law career as a central staff attorney with the Kansas Court of Appeals and later served as a judge’s chambers counsel until his appointment in January 2016 as the Clerk of the Kansas Appellate Courts, overseeing both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Doug is a past chairperson of the board of directors of the Topeka Bar Association (TBA) and has served in many capacities on the TBA board and its committees, including as chair and secretary. Doug received the TBA’s Outstanding Young Lawyer Award in 1997 and its prestigious Hon. E. Newton Vickers Professionalism Award in 2014. Doug is also active in the Sam A. Crow American Inn of Court, where he served as the Inn’s secretary-treasurer for eight years, and in Meals on Wheels, transporting meals for over 25 years, organizing two corporate routes, and serving in several capacities with the board of directors, including a two-year term as chairperson. In 2013, Doug was awarded the Rueter Award for distinguished service to Meals on Wheels.
Executive Committee
Elizabeth (Liz) Garcia (NM), term ending 2026
Elizabeth Garcia joined the New Mexico Supreme Court as the Chief Clerk of Court in March 2022. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico and earned her Juris Doctor degree from Washington and Lee School of Law. In law school, she served on the Washington and Lee Civil Rights Journal. After law school, she spent four years in private practice before spending twenty-two years in the public sector, fifteen years with the New Mexico Judiciary. A proud native of Belen, New Mexico, Liz is a first-generation attorney. She was awarded the State Bar of New Mexico’s 2020 Justice Pamela Minzner Outstanding Advocacy for Women Award. Liz and her husband, Steven, are the proud parents of two wonderful daughters. She enjoys University of New Mexico college basketball games, serving as a Girl Scout Troop Leader and on the Gold Award Committee, and being a soccer mom.
John Tomasino (FL), term ending 2026
John A. Tomasino is the Clerk of the Court at the Florida Supreme Court. Prior to his appointment as Clerk in 2013, John was the administrative director in the Public Defender’s Office for the Second Judicial Circuit based in Tallahassee, Florida. He worked in that office, in various roles, including representing clients, overseeing technology, and serving on various statewide committees, for over ten years. Prior to working at the Public Defender’s Office, John worked for three years representing death row inmates in their capital post-conviction proceedings in state and federal courts.
John is active on various subcommittees of the Florida Courts Technology Commission, and serves as a permanent board member on the Florida Courts E-filing Authority, which governs the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal.
Tristen Worthen (WA), term ending 2026
Tristen Worthen was born and raised in central Washington. Over her 34-year career in public service, she has had the privilege of serving at every level of the court system. Tristen began her journey in 1990 as a deputy clerk at a municipal court. Four years later, she was appointed as the court administrator, a position she held for a decade. When the city decided to disband the court, Tristen transitioned to the Douglas County Superior Court Clerk’s Office, where she served for 17 years, including seven years as the elected Douglas County Superior Court Clerk. In 2021, she was appointed as the Clerk/Court Administrator for the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division III, located in Spokane, Washington.
Tristen has been actively involved in several professional associations, including the District and Municipal Court Management Association, the Washington State Association of County Clerks, and currently, the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks. Her passion for education has led her to serve on and direct various educational programs within these associations.
Tristen holds a B.A. in Public Administration. In her spare time, she enjoys quilting, knitting, and other fiber crafts. She is the mother of two grown sons and currently resides in Cheney, Washington, with her husband and their Border Collie, Bo.
Gary Chambon (MI), term ending 2027
Gary Chambon has been the Lansing District Clerk with the Michigan Court of Appeals since January 2020. Before that he was the Assistant Clerk in the Lansing office from August 2009 to January 2020 (after periods of working in an assistant clerk role as special assignments when he was a research attorney with the court). Gary’s first job as a lawyer was as an attorney in the Court’s Research Division and, after two judicial clerkships, he returned to the Michigan Court of Appeals as a permanent court employee. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan in 1991 and with a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1994.
Gary first attended am NCACC conference in Williamsburg in 2022 and attended the next two conferences in Detroit (2023) and Burlington (2024). He volunteered with the Convention Assistance Committee in Burlington and was asked to chair that committee for the 2025 convention in Albuquerque. Gary is very grateful to have become involved with the NCACC.
Megan Rhodebeck (AL), term ending 2027
Megan Rhodebeck was appointed Clerk of the Supreme Court of Alabama on August 1, 2022. Prior to her appointment as Clerk, Megan served as a staff attorney for 4 years on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals (2009-2013) and nearly 10 years on the Supreme Court as Senior Staff Attorney to Associate Justice Tommy Bryan. Megan moved into the world of court administration after she was appointed to lead the implementation of a new appellate case management and e-filing system (C-Track), which launched in the Alabama Appellate Courts in early 2022.
Her first day as Clerk of the Supreme Court was at the NCACC Annual Conference in Williamsburg, and, since that time, she has served on various NCACC Committees and currently serves as Chair of the Awards, Resolutions and Memorials Committee. In her spare time, Megan loves reading, baking (mostly, just eating baked goods), and spending time with her husband, Seth, who is the Clerk of the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals.
Megan Scanlon (VA), term ending 2027
Megan Scanlon is an experienced attorney whose legal career has included positions in both the private and public sectors. Within the court system she has served in law clerk and staff attorney roles at the Arizona Supreme Court, the Southern District of Alabama, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Megan’s breadth of legal experience informs her current role as Chief Deputy Clerk of the Court of Appeals of Virginia.
Prior to becoming an attorney, Megan graduated with honors from three public universities: the College of William and Mary (B.A.), Bowling Green State University (M.A.), and the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law (J.D.). While in law school, Megan served as the editor-in-chief of law review. She has also authored several articles that courts around the country have cited in published decisions. Megan joined the NCACC in 2022 and serves as the chair of the Bylaws Committee. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and kids and playing the cello.