Big Island attorney M. Kanani Laubach was sworn in Wednesday as a district family court judge in Kona.

Laubach will fill the vacancy created by the appointment of District Court Judge Melvin H. Fujino to the Circuit Court.

Laubach has been in private practice in Hilo since 2011. Since 2012 she has been a partner at the law firm of Laubach & Frenz handling criminal cases in District, Family and Circuit Court.

Between 2006 and 2010, Laubach served as deputy prosecuting attorney for the County of Hawaii.

From 2003 to 2006, Laubach served as a deputy prosecuting attorney with the Honolulu prosecutor’s office

Laubach has served as a director on the Waiakea High School Foundation Board since 2014, and as a volunteer arbitrator in the Court Annexed Arbitration Program since 2011.

Laubach graduated from the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law and was admitted to the Hawaii State Bar in 2003. She is also a graduate of Chaminade University of Hawaii where she received a master’s degree in counseling psychology in 2000.