G. Richard Bevan

George Richard Bevan (born May 5, 1959) is an American attorney and jurist who has served as the chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court since 2021.^[1] He previously served as an Idaho district court judge from 2003 until 2017,^[1] when he was appointed to the supreme court.

Born and raised in Twin Falls, Idaho, Bevan graduated from Twin Falls High School in 1977,^[1] and then attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He earned a Bachelor of Science in business management and finance in 1984, and completed a Juris Doctor at the J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1987.^[2]

Bevan served as the Twin Falls County prosecuting attorney from 1993 to 1997 as a Republican.^[3] He was a partner in the law firm Hillifield & Bevan from 1997 to 2003.^[1]

In 2003, Governor Dirk Kempthorne appointed Bevan as a state judge on the Idaho District Court for the 5th judicial district, which covers the south central portion of the state. He was re-elected in 2006, 2010, and 2014.^[4]

Bevan was considered by Idaho's Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch for a possible nomination as a federal judge, but David Nye was selected in 2016.^[2]

In April 2017, Idaho Supreme Court justice Dan Eismann announced that he would retire on August 31.^[5] The Idaho Judicial Council provided Governor Butch Otter with four replacement candidates to choose from: Bevan, then-state district judges John Stegner and Greg Moeller, and attorney Rebecca Rainey.^[6] Otter announced on August 29 that he had selected Bevan for the vacancy.^[6] Later, both Stegner and Moeller joined Bevan on the Court.

Bevan was sworn in as a justice of the supreme court on September 27, 2017.^[7] Unopposed in the 2018 election,^[8] his current term expires in January 2025; the nonpartisan election is held within the statewide primary election in May.^[5] Through a vote of his peers on the supreme court, he was elected chief justice in November 2020 and began serving in that capacity on January 1, 2021.^[9]