Colorado Supreme Court Nominating Commission
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| Methods of judicial selection |
| Partisan elections |
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| Michigan method |
| Retention elections |
| Assisted appointment |
| Bar-controlled commission |
| Governor-controlled commission |
| Hybrid commission |
| Legislative elections |
| Gubernatorial appointment |
The Colorado Supreme Court Nominating Commission is a "merit system" committee that plays a role in the state's judicial selection. The commission has 15 voting members. It is chaired by the acting chief justice of the state supreme court, who does not vote on appointments. The 15 voting members of the commission are appointed in the following manner:
- Eight non-lawyer members are appointed by the Governor.
- Seven lawyer members are appointed jointly by the Governor, Attorney General, and Chief Justice.[1]
The commission screens and recommends candidates to the governor for appointment to the Colorado Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. Colorado's system for choosing judges is commonly known as the Missouri Plan and has been used to select judges in the state of Missouri since 1940. The governor is responsible for making appointments to fill vacancies on the Colorado Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals.
In accordance with the Colorado Constitution, the Supreme Court Nominating Commission is a governor-controlled commission where the governor is required to select from a list of three nominees that are recommended by the commission. As of February 16, 2025, 11 states used this type of commission. To learn more about controlling majorities in judicial selection commissions, click here.
The commission, in turn, must evaluate and interview candidates who apply for a vacancy. The commission then votes to choose the candidates who will be placed on the list of three. This list must be submitted to the governor no later than 30 days after the seat becomes vacant, the judge fails to file for retention or the Colorado Secretary of State certifies a negative majority vote in a retention election. If the governor fails to make an appointment from the list within 15 days, the chief justice of the Supreme Court may make the appointment from the list provided to the governor.[2]
Members
Last updated: May 2024
The nominating commission consists of seventeen voting members, with the majority being non-lawyers. Members include one non-lawyer citizen from each of the state's congressional districts, one lawyer from each of the state's congressional districts, and one additional non-lawyer member. The commission is chaired by the acting chief justice of the state supreme court who does not vote. Non-lawyers are appointed by the Governor. Lawyer members are appointed jointly by the Governor, Attorney General, and Chief Justice. No more than eight members (excluding the chief justice) may be members of the same political party. Each member receives a six-year term upon appointment. [2]
| Members of the Colorado Supreme Court Nominating Commission, May 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Appointed by | Term-end date |
| Chair - Chief Justice Brian Boatright | Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) | January 13, 2025 |
| Katina Banks | Gov. Jared Polis (D), Atty. Gen. Phil Weiser (D), Chief Justice Brian Boatright | December 31, 2025 |
| Ageno Otii | Gov. Jared Polis (D) | December 31, 2028 |
| Peter Gould | Gov. Jared Polis (D), Atty. Gen. Phil Weiser (D), Chief Justice Brian Boatright | December 31, 2026 |
| Lisa Kaufmann | Gov. Jared Polis (D) | December 31, 2028 |
| Linda Garcia | Gov. Jared Polis (D) | December 31, 2025 |
| J. Martelle Daniels | Gov. Jared Polis (D), Atty. Gen. Phil Weiser (D), Chief Justice Brian Boatright | December 31, 2025 |
| Deborah Suniga | Gov. Jared Polis (D) | December 31, 2024 |
| John Suthers | Gov. Jared Polis (D) | December 31, 2028 |
| Paul Wiggins | Gov. Jared Polis (D) | December 31, 2027 |
| Marco Chayet | Gov. Jared Polis (D), Atty. Gen. Phil Weiser (D), Chief Justice Brian Boatright | December 31, 2026 |
| C. Omar Montgomery | Gov. Jared Polis (D) | December 31, 2025 |
| Edwin Perlmutter | Gov. Jared Polis (D) | December 31, 2028 |
| Alejandra Major | Gov. Jared Polis (D) | December 31, 2029 |
| Danielle Radovich Piper | Gov. Jared Polis (D) | December 31, 2025 |
| Kevin Mullin | Gov. Jared Polis (D) | December 31, 2027 |
| Jerome DeHerrera | Gov. Jared Polis (D) | December 31, 2027 |
| Vacant | N/A | N/A |
Process
On its website, the commission lays out the following steps for filling a judicial vacancy:<ref name=comm>
- Notification and proposals of names - No later than three days after a vacancy occurs, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court notifies each member of the vacancy, sets the meeting dates, and issues a press release saying the vacancy occurred and that nominations may be submitted to the commission.
- Commission procedures - The commission elects one of its members as secretary for one year or until a successor is elected. The commission sends every proposed nominee a questionnaire they must submit for consideration, and the commission conducts investigations of the candidates. The commission keeps a record of its official actions and a list of names considered for each vacancy. Scheduled meetings are held and the commission keeps a record of when and where meetings were held and persons present at each meeting.
- Transmittal to the governor - The commission must hand-deliver three nominee names along with the nominee's applications to the governor within 30 days of the vacancy. After nominations are presented to the governor, the commission releases those names to the public and the secretary forwards the aforementioned records of the nomination process to the Clerk of the Supreme Court.
When evaluating nominees and choosing the three names to submit to the governor, the commission must consider the following factors and questions:
| “ |
1. His or her integrity and moral courage. 2. His or her legal ability and experience. 3. His or her intelligence and wisdom. 4. Will she or he be deliberate and fair minded in reaching decisions? 5. Will she or he be industrious and prompt in performing his or her duties as a judge? 6. Are his or her personal habits and outside activities compatible with judicial office? 7. Will he or she be courteous and considerate on the bench? [3] |
” |
The official commission rules document can be viewed here.
Duties
As of April 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court Nominating Commission website did not list specific duties for members of the commission.
Control of judicial selection commissions
Assisted appointment is a method of judicial selection in which 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.[4]
At the state supreme court level, this method is further divided into the following three types, based on the makeup of the judicial nominating commissions. Those types are:
- Governor-controlled commission - The governor is either responsible for appointing a majority of the members of the nominating commission or may decline to appoint a candidate from a list provided by the nominating commission.
- Bar-controlled commission - The state Bar Association is responsible for appointing a majority of the members of the nominating commission.
- Hybrid - There is no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state Bar Association. The membership of these commissions is determined by different rules in each state.
Twenty-two courts in 22 states used assisted appointment to select state supreme court justices as of June 2021.[5][6] Colorado used a governor-controlled commission. The table below shows the number of courts using each variation of assisted appointment at the state supreme court level.
| Assisted appointment methods in state supreme courts | |
|---|---|
| Method | Courts (of 23) |
| Governor-controlled majority | 10 |
| Bar-controlled majority | 1 |
| Hybrid | 12 |
The map below highlights the states that use each of the three types of assisted appointment.
About judicial selection
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.[4] 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.
http://ballotpedia.org/Judicial_selection_in_STATE
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Colorado Judicial Branch, "Judicial Nominating Commissions," accessed October 8, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Colorado State Judicial Branch, "Colorado Constitution, Article VI, Sections 20 and 24," accessed December 10, 2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 American Bar Association, "Judicial Selection: The Process of Choosing Judges," June 2008 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "ambaroverview" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ As of June 2021, Oklahoma had two state supreme courts: one for civil matters and one for criminal matters.
- ↑ North Dakota uses this method only for vacancies.