Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. has nominated attorney Pedro K. Williams to serve on the V.I. Superior Court.

After announcing the nomination during a weekly Government House press briefing Monday, spokesperson Richard Motta Jr. said Williams’s confirmation would fill the last remaining vacancy on the Superior Court’s bench and “allow the court to operate at full strength.”

“That means greater capacity to move cases, shorter wait times for families and businesses that seek resolution, and a stronger foundation for justice across the territory,” he said.

Williams graduated from Charlotte Amalie High School before earning a degree in economics from Tufts University, near Boston, and a juris doctorate from the University of Texas. He worked as legal counsel for V.I. Delegate Ron de Lugo, counsel to the Coastal Zone Management program and in private practice with former V.I. Attorney General Vincent Frazer. Williams’s work representing both government agencies and private individuals “gives him a balanced perspective on the duties and limits of government power and on the rights of individual citizens,” Motta said.

“That breadth of practice means he has seen our justice system from many angles — from serious criminal matters to complex civil disputes and sensitive family cases,” he said.

The nomination comes two weeks after Bryan tapped Magistrate Judge Venetia Harvey Velazquez to serve on the Superior Court in the district of St. Croix.

November SNAP Benefits ‘Fully Restored’ 

Motta said Monday that as of last week, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits put on pause amid a 43-day shutdown of the federal government have been fully restored and posted to Virgin Islanders’ EBT cards. The restoration came after the local government tapped into its rainy day funds and sent food assistance checks to more than ten thousand households across the territory.

“The emergency checks that went out earlier this month are yours,” Motta said. “I’ll repeat that: the emergency checks that went out earlier this month as payment for half your November EBT benefits are yours. They were funded with local dollars to bridge the gap created by the federal government shutdown. The full federal SNAP benefit that posted on Friday is your regular November benefit from the federal government — it is not reduced because you received a local relief check, and it is not being clawed back.”

Some Detained for Questioning After Another School Threat

Addressing a threat made to the Lockhart K-8 School on St. Thomas Monday, Motta said some individuals have been detained for questioning.

“And that’s the extent of details with respect to the investigation that I have right now, but in the coming days we should have some more information,” he said. “But they have detained some individuals as persons of interest — and for questioning — and we will make further announcements in the very near future.”

In a statement Monday, the V.I. Education Department said the school was placed on lockdown after a call was made to 9-1-1 reporting a potential threat to the campus. The campus was evacuated and police later gave the “all clear.”

“All potential threats to campus are taken seriously and the safety of our students and school personnel remains our highest priority,” according to the statement. “Students are reminded of the seriousness of making any kind of threats that could compromise the safety of fellow students and school personnel.”

Monday’s incident marked at least the fourth such threat made against Virgin Islands schools in the past three weeks. Separately, a 17-year-old was arrested at St. Croix Central High School last Friday after a loaded gun was found inside the student’s backpack.