CHRISTIANSTED — During the weekly briefing on Tuesday, Governor Albert Bryan trotted out two new nominees for positions in the Cabinet – Attorney General Nominee Ariel M. Smith and Agriculture Commissioner Nominee Louis Petersen.
Smith is a veteran attorney with the Virgin Islands Department of Justice who currently serves as the chief of the department’s Civil Division. She also served as assistant Territorial Public Defender and has worked as an associate at a local law firm.
Smith is filling the slot being vacated by Acting Attorney General Carol Thomas Jacobs, who currently is going through the nomination process for a seat on the bench of the Virgin Islands Superior Court.
Petersen is currently an assistant director at the University of the Virgin Islands’ School of Agriculture and a former assistant commissioner and commissioner of the Department of Agriculture.
Petersen will replace Commissioner Terrence “Positive” Nelson, who is moving on to role in the Bryan-Roach Administration as a Special Policy Advisor to the Governor.
As special advisor to the governor, Nelson will coordinate the interagency effort to implement the territory’s Adult Use Cannabis Law and lead the public information and education surrounding the implementation of the act.