Judicial selection in Arizona
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A list of nominees for membership on the Arizona Supreme Court or the Arizona Court of Appeals is chosen by a commission, the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments. Once this group has chosen a slate of nominees for a vacancy that has occurred, the governor picks one from the slate. The state senate then confirms or denies that appointeee.
Article 6 of the Arizona Constitution says that any of the 15 counties in Arizona whose population exceeds 250,000 is required to use a commission-selection process for choosing its trial court judges. There are two counties that exceed that population threshold, Maricopa and Pima, and, as a result, each county has a judicial selection commission: respectively, the Maricopa County Commission on Trial Court Appointments and the Pima County Commission on Trial Court Appointments, which pick judges for the Maricopa County Superior Court and the Pima County Superior Court. All the other counties in Arizona elect their trial judges although Section 40 of Article 6 says they can choose to use a commission selection system if they so desire.[1]
Make-up of the judicial commissions
Each commission has 16 members: 10 public members and 5 attorneys, plus the Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court or a designated Supreme Court justice, who serves as a voting chairperson.
To be a member of any of the three judicial selection commissions:
- Members must have lived in Arizona for at least five years;
- Lawyer members must have practiced law in Arizona for five years.
- No more than three lawyer members and no more than five nonlawyer members may belong to the same political party.
- Members serve staggered four-year terms.
- Lawyers who are chosen from the commission are selected from a slate of candidates prepared by the State Bar of Arizona.
History of Arizona's selection process
Arizona voters enacted the state's current system of choosing judges in 1974, when they voted to pass Proposition 108, which was subsequently amended in 1992.
Superior Court retention elections
Arizona's superior court judges in Maricopa and Pima Counties, who are appointed, must stand for a retention election every four years. As part of this process, they are evaluated by questionnaires which are filled out by attorneys and court customers.[1]
Only two Arizona superior court judges have ever been rejected in a retention election, with the most recent such rejection occuring in 1974.[1]
See also
- Section 36 of Article 6 of the Arizona Constitution
- Section 41 of Article 6 of the Arizona Constitution
External links
References
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