Judicial selection in the states

Methods of judicial selection vary substantially across the country. Also, each state has different levels and even names for those levels of courts. In order to provide a quick reference to their methods of judicial selection, each state has its own table on this page.

Appellate court selection in the United States

Method totals

This table shows the number of courts that use the various methods across the United States.

Method	Supreme Court (of 52)	Courts of Appeal (of 40)	Trial Courts (of 130)
PE	8	6	45
NPE	14	12	39
LE	2	2	5
GAJ	4	3	8
CS	23	17	33

Methods by state

Key

PE	Partisan election of judges
NPE	Non-partisan election of judges
LE	Legislative election of judges
GAJ	Gubernatorial appointment of judges
CS	Commission-selection, political appointment method of judicial selection

State	Supreme Court	Courts of Appeal	Circuit Court	District Court
Alabama	PE	PE	PE	PE

State	Supreme Court	Courts of Appeal	Superior Court	District Court
Alaska	CS	CS	CS	CS

State	Supreme Court	Courts of Appeal	Superior Court	Justices of the Peace
Arizona	CS	CS	CS or NPE	PE

State	Supreme Court	Courts of Appeal	Circuit Court	District Court
Arkansas	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Courts of Appeal	Superior Court
California	GAJ	GAJ	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	District Court	County Courts
Colorado	CS	CS	CS	CS

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Superior Court	Probate Court
Connecticut	CS	CS	CS	PE

State	Supreme Court	Superior Court	Court of Chancery	Family Court	Court of Common Pleas
Delaware	CS	CS	CS	CS	CS

State	Supreme Court	District Courts of Appeal	Circuit Court	County Courts
Florida	CS	CS	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Superior Court	Probate Court	State Court
Georgia	NPE	NPE	NPE	PE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Circuit Court	District Court
Hawaii	CS	CS	CS	CS

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	District Court
Idaho	NPE	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Appellate Court	Circuit Court
Illinois	PE	PE	PE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Circuit Court	Superior Court	Tax Court	Probate Court	County Court	City Court	Town Court	Small Claims Court
Indiana	CS	CS	PE or NPE	CS or PE	CS	PE	PE	PE	PE	PE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	District Court
Iowa	CS	CS	CS

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	District Court
Kansas	CS	CS	PE or CS

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Circuit Court	District Court
Kentucky	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	District Court	Family Courts	Juvenile Courts	Parish Courts
Louisiana	PE	PE	PE	PE	PE	PE

State	Supreme Court	Superior Court	District Court	Probate Courts
Maine	GAJ	GAJ	GAJ	PE

State	Court of Appeals	Court of Special Appeals	Circuit Court	District Court	Orphans' Courts
Maryland	CS	CS	CS or NPE	CS	PE

State	Supreme Judicial Court	Appeals Court	Superior Court	District Court	Probate Court	Juvenile Court
Massachusetts	GAJ	GAJ	GAJ	GAJ	GAJ	GAJ

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Circuit Court	District Court	Probate Court
Michigan	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	District Court
Minnesota	NPE	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Circuit Court	Chancery Court	County Court	Justice Court
Mississippi	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Circuit Court
Missouri	CS	CS	PE or CS

State	Supreme Court	District Court	Workers' Compensation Court	City Court	Justice of the Peace
Montana	NPE	NPE	CS	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	District Court	County Court	Juvenile Court	Workers' Compensation Court
Nebraska	CS	CS	CS	CS	CS	CS

State	Supreme Court	District Court	Municipal Courts	Justice Courts
Nevada	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Superior Court	District Court	Probate Court
New Hampshire	CS	CS	CS	CS

State	Supreme Court	Appellate Division of the Superior Court	Superior Court	Tax Court
New Jersey	GAJ	GAJ	GAJ	GAJ

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	District Court	Magistrate	Probate Court
New Mexico	PE	PE	PE	PE	PE

State	Court of Appeals	Supreme Court, Appellate Division	Supreme Court	Court of Claims	Family Court	Surrogate's Court	Civil Court	District Court	Town Court
New York	CS	CS	PE	PE	CS	PE	PE	PE	PE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Superior Court	District Court
North Carolina	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	District Court
North Dakota	NPE	See: Judicial selection in North Dakota	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Courts of Appeal	Courts of Common Pleas	County Courts
Ohio	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court/Court of Criminal Appeals	Court of Civil Appeals	District Court
Oklahoma	CS	CS	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Circuit Court	Tax Court	County Court	Justice Court
Oregon	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Superior Court	Commonwealth Court	Courts of Common Pleas
Pennsylvania	PE	PE	PE	PE

State	Supreme Court	Superior Court	Family Court	District Court
Rhode Island	CS	CS	CS	CS

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Circuit Court	Family Courts	Magistrate Courts	Probate Courts
South Carolina	LE	LE	LE	LE	LE	PE

State	Supreme Court	Circuit Court
South Dakota	CS	NPE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Court of Criminal Appeals	Chancery Court	Criminal Court	Circuit Court	Probate Court	General Sessions Court
Tennessee	CS	CS	CS	PE	PE	PE	PE	PE

State	Supreme Court/Court of Criminal Appeals	Courts of Appeal	District Court	County Courts	Justices of the Peace
Texas	PE	PE	PE	PE	PE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	District Court	Juvenile Court
Utah	CS	CS	CS	CS

State	Supreme Court	Superior Court	District Court	Probate Court
Vermont	CS	CS	CS	PE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Circuit Court	General District Court
Virginia	LE	LE	LE	LE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Superior Court	District Court
Washington	NPE	NPE	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court of Appeals	Circuit Court	Family Court	Magistrate
West Virginia	PE	PE	PE	PE

State	Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	Circuit Court
Wisconsin	NPE	NPE	NPE

State	Supreme Court	District Court	Circuit Court
Wyoming	CS	CS	CS

See also

• State Supreme Court elections