Judicial selection in California

Judicial selection in California
California Supreme Court
Method:	Gubernatorial appointment
Term:	12 years
California Courts of Appeal
Method:	Gubernatorial appointment
Term:	12 years
California Superior Courts
Method:	Nonpartisan election
Term:	6 years

Judicial selection refers to the process used to select judges for courts. At the state level, methods of judicial selection vary substantially in the United States, and in some cases between different court types within a state. There are six primary types of judicial selection: partisan and nonpartisan elections, the Michigan method, assisted appointment, gubernatorial appointment, and legislative elections. To read more about how these selection methods are used across the country, click here.

This article covers how state court judges are selected in California, including:

• California Supreme Court,
• California Courts of Appeal,
• California Superior Courts, and
• Limited jurisdiction courts

As of March 2023, California uses two different systems for its selection of state court judges. The state's appellate judges are chosen by gubernatorial appointment—where the governor directly selects judges—followed by commission confirmation. Trial judges are elected by popular nonpartisan vote.

Click here to notify us of changes to judicial selection methods in this state.

California Supreme Court

See also: California Supreme Court

The seven justices of the California Supreme Court are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. The state bar's Commission on Judicial Nominee Evaluation—also known as the "Jenny Commission"—is required to perform an extensive investigation on prospective appointees. The commission recommends candidates to the governor after examining their qualifications and fitness, ranking them as exceptionally well qualified, well qualified, qualified, or not qualified. The commission is composed of attorneys and public members. Although the governor is not bound to these recommendations, the Commission on Judicial Appointments can approve or veto the appointment by majority vote.

Following confirmation from the Commission on Judicial Appointments, the appointed justice is sworn into office and is subject to voter approval at the next gubernatorial election. The appointed justice must be confirmed by voters via a yes-no retention election. According to the California Constitution, the term for a supreme court justice is 12 years. If retained by the voters, the appointed justice remains in office but their term may depend on their predecessor's term. If the predecessor served part of their term before leaving office, the appointed justice would be retained to serve the remainder of their predecessor's term. This would be for either four or eight years. At the end of that term, the justice again must be confirmed by the voters at a gubernatorial election to begin a new 12-year term. If a justice has been appointed to a seat where the predecessor's term would have expired the January 1 immediately after that November gubernatorial election, then the justice would serve a full 12-year term.

Qualifications

To serve as a justice, a candidate must have practiced law for at least 10 years in California or served as a judge in California for at least 10 years.

Chief justice

The court uses the same process described above for selecting its chief justice. The governor, with commission approval, appoints a chief justice for a full 12-year term.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

Vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment. Appointed judges are required to participate in yes-no retention elections occurring at the time of the next gubernatorial race, which is held every four years.

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.

California Courts of Appeal

See also: California Courts of Appeal

The 106 judges of the California Courts of Appeal are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. The state bar's Commission on Judicial Nominee Evaluation—also known as the "Jenny Commission"—is required to perform an extensive investigation on prospective appointees. The commission recommends candidates to the governor after examining their qualifications and fitness, ranking them as exceptionally well qualified, well qualified, qualified, or not qualified. The commission is composed of attorneys and public members. Although the governor is not bound to these recommendations, the Commission on Judicial Appointments can approve or veto the appointment by majority vote.

Following confirmation from the Commission on Judicial Appointments, the appointed justice is sworn into office and is subject to voter approval at the next gubernatorial election. The appointed justice must be confirmed by voters via a yes-no retention election. According to the California Constitution, the term for a court of appeals justice is 12 years. If retained by the voters, the appointed justice remains in office but their term may depend on their predecessor's term. If the predecessor served part of their term before leaving office, the appointed justice would be retained to serve the remainder of their predecessor's term. This would be for either four or eight years. At the end of that term, the justice again must be confirmed by the voters at a gubernatorial election to begin a new 12-year term. If a justice has been appointed to a seat where the predecessor's term would have expired the January 1 immediately after that November gubernatorial election, then the justice would serve a full 12-year term.

Qualifications

To serve as a justice, a candidate must have practiced law for at least 10 years in California or served as a judge in California for at least 10 years.

Presiding justice

The court uses the same process described above for selecting a presiding justice. The presiding justice for each district is chosen by the governor and is confirmed by the commission. In a court of appeals with more than one division, the chief justice of the supreme court may select a presiding justice to act as the administrative presiding justice. The administrative presiding justice serves for a period specified in the designation order. In a court of appeals with only one division, the presiding justice acts as the administrative presiding justice.

Vacancies

Vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment. Appointed judges are required to participate in yes-no retention elections occurring at the time of the next gubernatorial race, which is held every four years.

California Superior Courts

See also: California Superior Courts

The judges of the California Superior Courts compete in nonpartisan races in even-numbered years. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the primary election, he or she is declared the winner; if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff between the top two candidates is held during the November general election.

If an incumbent judge is running unopposed in an election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot. The judge is automatically re-elected following the general election. The winners are elected on a county-wide basis to six-year terms.

Qualifications

To serve as a judge, a candidate must have practiced law for at least 10 years in California or served as a judge in California for at least 10 years.

Presiding judge

The presiding judge of any given superior court is selected by peer vote of the court's members. He or she serves in that capacity for one or two years, depending on the county.

Vacancies

In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints an interim judge to serve until the next general election after the second January 1 following the vacancy.

Commission on Judicial Appointments

The California Commission on Judicial Appointments is responsible for confirming appointments that the governor makes to the California Supreme Court and the California Courts of Appeal.

Three members sit on the commission. They are the chief justice of the California Supreme Court, the Attorney General of California, and the most senior presiding justice of the court of appeal of the appellate district to which a judge is being appointed. When a supreme court appointee is being considered, the third member of the commission is the state's most senior presiding justice of the courts of appeal.

The commission convenes when the governor nominates or appoints a person to fill an appellate court vacancy. One or more public hearings are held, during which the commission reviews the appointee's qualifications and decides to confirm or veto the appointment. No appellate appointment is final until the commission has filed its approval with the California Secretary of State.

Commission on Judicial Nominee Evaluation

The Commission on Judicial Nominee Evaluation is responsible for vetting potential appointees and making recommendations to the governor. The commission has a varying number of members, but always has at least 27 and no more than 38 members. It is made up of members of the public, including attorneys and non-attorneys. Members of the commission are appointed by the state bar's Board of Trustees.

History

Below is a timeline noting changes to judicial selection methods in California listed in reverse chronological order:

• 1998: The judicial retention ballot was changed to no longer include the term length of the office in question or the name of the governor who initially appointed the justice. California judges campaigned for these changes because, since 1994 when the term lengths were first included on the ballot, judges seeking retention for longer terms received fewer votes.
• 1986: Proposition 49 was approved by voters, prohibiting political parties from endorsing, supporting, or opposing candidates in elections for nonpartisan offices. The provision was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, but the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the case as not ripe for review. It was again declared unconstitutional by a federal district judge in 1996.
• 1979: The State Bar of California's Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation was required by the California Legislature to review the backgrounds and qualifications of all prospective judges.
• 1976: The Commission on Judicial Qualifications was renamed the Commission on Judicial Performance.
• 1960: The Commission on Judicial Qualifications was established by voter initiative.
• 1934: The process of selecting appellate judges was changed by voters.

• Appellate judges were required to be appointed by the governor and confirmed by a commission, and later to stand for retention every 12 years.
• Trial courts could adopt the same appointive system by a majority vote of the county.
• A measure on the same ballot calling for merit selection and retention of superior court judges in counties with populations greater than 1.5 million was rejected by voters.

• 1926: The California Constitution was amended, providing for nonpartisan judicial elections.
• 1911: The California Legislature established nonpartisan elections for judges.
• 1904: The Court of Appeals was created.
• 1879: The term length of supreme court justices was increased to 12 years.
• 1862: The term length of supreme court justices was increased to 10 years.
• 1849: Judges of the state supreme court and district court were elected by popular vote to six-year terms.

Selection of federal judges

United States district court judges, who are selected from each state, go through a different selection process from that of state judges.

The district courts are served by Article III federal judges, who are appointed for life during good behavior. They are usually first recommended by senators (or members of the House, occasionally). The President of the United States nominates judges, who must then be confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution.

Courts in California

In California, there are four federal district courts, a state supreme court, a state court of appeals, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction. These courts serve different purposes which are outlined in the sections below.

• Federal courts
• State supreme court
• State court of appeals
• Trial courts

The structure of California's state court system.

In other states

Each state has a unique set of guidelines governing how they select judges at the state and local level. These methods of selection are:

Election

• Partisan election: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot alongside a label designating political party affiliation.
• Nonpartisan election: Judges are elected by the people, and candidates are listed on the ballot without a label designating party affiliation.
• Michigan method: State supreme court justices are selected through nonpartisan elections preceded by either partisan primaries or conventions.
• Retention election: A periodic process whereby voters are asked whether an incumbent judge should remain in office for another term. Judges are not selected for initial terms in office using this election method.

Assisted appointment

• Assisted appointment, also known as merit selection or the Missouri Plan: A nominating commission reviews the qualifications of judicial candidates and submits a list of names to the governor, who appoints a judge from the list. At the state supreme court level, this method is further divided into the following three types:
  • Bar-controlled commission: The state Bar Association is responsible for appointing a majority of the judicial nominating commission that sends the governor a list of nominees that they must choose from.
  • Governor-controlled commission: The governor is responsible for appointing a majority of the judicial nominating commission that sends the governor a list of nominees they must choose from.
  • Hybrid commission: The judicial nominating commission has no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state bar association. These commissions determine membership in a variety of ways, but no institution or organization has a clear majority control.

Direct appointment

• Court appointment: Judges are selected by judges in the state judiciary.
• Gubernatorial appointment: Judges are appointed by the governor. In some cases, approval from the legislative body is required.
• Legislative election: Judges are selected by the state legislature.
• Municipal government selection: Judges are selected by the governing body of their municipality.

Click a state on the map below to explore judicial selection processes in that state.

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See also

State courts	Appointment methods	Election methods
State supreme courts Intermediate appellate courts Trial courts	Assisted appointment Court appointment Gubernatorial appointment Legislative election Municipal government selection	Partisan election Nonpartisan election Michigan method

External links

• California Courts

Footnotes

California courts

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Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California

State courts:

California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts

State resources:

Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California