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WELCOME TO THE
WEBSITE OF ARIZONA'S JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSIONS.
For more
than 30 years Arizona citizens have benefited from a judicial merit
selection and retention system. Merit selection is a way of choosing
judges that uses nonpartisan
commissions to investigate and evaluate applicants for judgeships.
The commissions then submit the names of at least three highly qualified
applicants to the Governor. The Governor appoints appellate court judges
statewide and trial court judges in Maricopa and Pima counties from
lists of nominees submitted by the judicial nominating commissions.
We invite you to attend our meetings
to see Arizona’s merit selection system at work. Our mission is to
nominate candidates with outstanding qualifications who reflect, to the
extent possible, the diversity of our communities.
Public members make up the majority of every judicial nominating
commission. There are three nominating commissions - one for appellate
court appointments, and two local commissions on trial court
appointments in Maricopa and Pima counties. Each commission is composed
of ten public members and five attorney members, and is chaired by the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Our members come from diverse
geographic areas. A wide range of experience and perspectives are
brought together to choose the most highly qualified candidates for
appointment to judicial office.
Merit selection is not a system that grants lifetime judgeships. In
Arizona, after an initial two-year term of office and every few years
thereafter, judges appointed under merit selection are evaluated by the
voters in an uncontested retention election. Voters have the power to
remove or retain judges during the retention elections.
How can Arizona citizens participate in selecting, reviewing and
voting on judges?
• Encourage highly qualified people to apply to serve as a judge.
• Volunteer to serve on
a judicial nominating commission. Applications are available from the
Governor's Office when volunteers are needed.
• Send your comments on applicants being
considered for judgeships to a Judicial Nominating Commission.
• Volunteer to serve on the Commission on
Judicial Performance Review (JPR) or
a JPR Conference Team.
• Complete and return a judicial performance survey when you are in
court as a juror, litigant or witness during the survey period.
• Send your comments
on a judge's performance at any time to the JPR Commission.
• Be an informed voter. Read the
findings and report of the JPR Commission before you vote in retention
elections.
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Merit Selection at Work