TESUQUE PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) - The first Native American woman to be elected as a state district judge in the United States has died. Carol Jean Vigil died Friday at Tesuque Pueblo at the age of 61.

Family members say she died in her sleep at home and had a number of health problems.

Vigil was elected to New Mexico's 1st Judicial District, which includes Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties, in June 1998.

Santa Fe attorney Bryant Rogers says she was very serious about her work, thoughtful and well prepared.

Vigil received her law degree from the University of New Mexico in 1977. She was the first pueblo Indian woman to be admitted to the state bar.

Her husband, Philip Palmer, says she served as assistant state attorney general under Jeff Bingaman, who is now a U.S. senator.

Vigil retired from district court in 2005.

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