BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday nominated Juvenile and District Court veterans to serve as clerk magistrates in western Massachusetts, after the Governor’s Council confirmed two other nominees to become judges of Probate and Family and District Courts. 

Healey nominated William Larkin to the role of clerk magistrate of the Franklin/Hampshire Juvenile Court. Larkin worked as acting, first assistant and assistant clerk magistrate of the same court between 2006 and 2019, when he became acting clerk magistrate of Berkshire Juvenile Court. He returned to Franklin/Hampshire Juvenile Court in 2022, where he has been since. 

Larkin was a partner at Larkin & Samolewicz Attorneys at Law from 1991 to 2006, a general practice firm focused on criminal defense and litigation. He also worked as staff counsel to Hampshire County Bar Advocates Inc. and as assistant district attorney in the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office earlier in his career. He has a law degree from Western New England School of Law in Springfield and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Healey also nominated Scott Rathbun to become clerk magistrate of the Eastern Hampshire District Court, where he has worked as assistant clerk magistrate since October 2018. He has conducted hearings and trials, and issued rulings in criminal probable cause hearings, small claims and civil motor vehicle infractions, according to his resume. Rathbun was acting clerk magistrate from September 2021 through February 2022. 

A founding partner at Amherst-based Rathbun Ciccarelli Attorneys at Law from 2012 through 2018 where he specialized in criminal defense and civil litigation, Rathbun also worked as assistant district attorney for five years at the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a law degree from New England Law Boston. 

Councilor Tara Jacobs tentatively set hearings for both Larkin and Rathbun for Jan. 7, 2026. 

Seven members of the council on Wednesday unanimously voted to confirm Frances Dallmeyer a District Court judge following her Nov. 19 nomination and Dec. 3 hearing. 

Dallmeyer since 2006 has worked as a bar advocate for Middlesex Defense Attorneys Inc., where she has accepted appointments in Lowell and Ayer District Courts. Since 2020, she has chaired the Greater Lowell Bar Association Criminal Practice Sub-Committee. She has been a solo practitioner in the Law Office of Frances B. Dallmeyer for almost 20 years. 

Dallmeyer was described by 30-year trial lawyer Michael Bowser at a Dec. 3 hearing as having “the courage, the smarts and the decency to be a great judge.”

Ayer District Court First Justice Tejal Mehta also spoke in Dallmeyer’s favor.

“I have presided regularly in the courts where Attorney Dallmeyer practices and I have personally observed that she is a tremendous criminal defense attorney. It’s a hard job; there’s not a lot of thank you’s in the job. But she has done it, because she understands that our greatest opportunity and our greatest responsibility as lawyers, as judges, is to respond,” Mehta said.

For just over two years between 1992 and 1995, Dallmeyer was a social worker for the Massachusetts Department of Social Services. She also worked as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and early in her career as an administrative assistant for the Worcester County Sheriff’s Department and the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office. Dallmeyer has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from UMass Lowell, and a law degree from Suffolk University Law School. 

“When people in our community who are the most vulnerable, the most powerless, make a mistake in the heat of the moment, or are victimized and need protection, in these situations it is our collective responsibility to help them. To serve them. And that is what I’ve seen Attorney Dallmeyer do,” Mehta said. “But the way she does it is different. It’s not just that she’s the nicest person you’ll ever meet, it’s not just that everyone thinks the world of her, it’s not just that she donated a kidney — although all these things are true. It’s more than that. She has truly been a light in the darkness for the people she has helped.”

The council also unanimously voted to confirm Toiya Taylor to serve on the Probate and Family Court. She was nominated by Healey on Nov. 19. Taylor was first assistant register in Suffolk Probate and Family Court between 2018 and 2022, and has been first assistant clerk magistrate for the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court since 2022. 

At a Dec. 3 hearing, First Justice of Suffolk Probate and Family Court Janine Rivers said she has known Taylor for more than 21 years in both a personal and professional capacity.

“Toiya’s just one of those people you can count on wherever, whenever, time and time again,” Rivers said. “I had the opportunity to practice with Toiya, and there were many times where we were not on the same side. And I note that she was a formidable opposing counsel. Toiya was always prepared, knew her cases inside and out and had a command of the law.”

Taylor began her career as a law clerk for Massachusetts Probate and Family Court in 2000, and went on to work as an associate at firm Jason & Fischer, an adjunct professor in the Roger Williams University Paralegal Program, and a part-time staff attorney at Aid to Incarcerated Mothers in Boston. Between 2002 and 2018, Taylor worked as a solo practitioner in her own law office, and was a mentor in the Committee for Public Counsel Services Children and Family Law Mentor Program in Boston from 2005 until 2018. For almost two years Taylor was a legal aid instructor at Harvard Law School. 

Retired clerk magistrate from the Dorchester division of the Boston Municipal Court Anthony Owens also recalled Taylor’s work as first assistant during the pandemic.

“With more time I’d share stories from attorneys and other individuals who reported being personally assisted by Ms. Taylor as she manned the Probate Court counter during staff reductions,” said Owens, who spent 20 years in the role and has known Taylor for 15 of them. 

“In my opinion, based upon my understanding of the many duties of the judges in the Probate Court department, Ms. Taylor’s experience, depth of knowledge and other attributes would make her an outstanding addition to the probate court bench,” Owens said. 

Taylor has a law degree from Boston College Law School and a bachelor’s degree from UMass Amherst. 

Dallmeyer’s nomination marked Healey’s 29th to the District Court, and Taylor’s confirmation marks Healey’s 20th appointment to Probate and Family Court.