Two lawyers have been selected to serve as Ventura County Superior Court commissioners, filling a pair of vacancies recently created when commissioners Douglas W. Daily and Bruce A. Young were appointed to judgeships.

Superior Court judges announced Thursday that they chose attorneys Kevin G. DeNoce and David R. Worley as the new commissioners.

"I am honored to have been appointed," DeNoce said Friday. "I am really looking forward to the transition to the bench."

DeNoce of Ventura said he expects to begin his commissioner duties on Sept. 17.

DeNoce, 47, is currently in private practice in Ventura, specializing in criminal cases. He was a prosecutor with the District Attorney's Office from 1987 to 1996. He was supervising attorney for the office's appellate division from 1992 to 1996.

DeNoce said he is going to be busy closing his law practice in the next two weeks. This will entail transferring his cases to another lawyer to handle along with selling some office furniture.

He said he is lucky because his office lease ends in September.

DeNoce earned his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his law degree from the Pepperdine University School of Law. He is a past president of both the Ventura County Deputy District Attorney's Association and the Criminal Justice Attorney's Association of Ventura County.

DeNoce said that having been a prosecutor and a criminal defense lawyer gives him a "balanced perspective" in forming fair and impartial decisions on the bench.

He received the Outstanding Prosecutor of the Year Award in 1988 from the District Attorney's Office, and the Ventura County Criminal Defense Bar Association's 2002 Joyce Yoshioka Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the criminal justice system.

Worley of Camarillo is currently a partner in the law firm of Wojkowski & Worley in Oxnard. He specializes in civil litigation.

He was a prosecutor for the Ventura County District Attorney's Office from 1981 to 1984 and is a member of the Mesa Union School District board in Somis.

Worley graduated with honors from CSU Bakersfield. He also attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Worley earned his law degree at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

Worley, 50, was out of town and unavailable for comment.