A newly formed commission for choosing judicial nominees in Pinal County doesn’t meet state constitutional requirements that set the composition of the panel, Arizona Capitol Times quotes legal experts as saying.
The Governor’s Office said the eight appointees make a quorum and permits the commission to begin selecting nominees to send to the governor to fill a vacancy on the county’s Superior Court bench.
The Arizona Constitution requires the 15-member Pinal Commission on Trial Court Appointments to include five attorneys, but none of the eight appointed so far are lawyers.
“I don’t think that satisfies constitutional standards,” said former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Charles Jones.
The problem has been a lack of volunteers and the difficulties of trying to meet the mandated political mix. No more than three of the five attorneys can be from the same political party.
Part of the delay in appointing attorneys is the lack of volunteers who want to be on the commission.
Arizona uses merit selection in its three largest counties — Maricopa, Pima and Pinal. Under merit selection, nominating commissions, which are composed of 10 non-attorneys and five attorneys, in those respective counties vet judicial applicants and submit names to the governor, who then makes the appointment. Voters in the rest of the state’s counties elect their judges.
In the past vacancy, no Democrats showed interest in applying for the bench and volunteers were lacking for the nomination commission.
State Bar spokesman Rick DeBruhl said the Bar aggressively recruited applicants for several months last year
Information from Arizona Capitol Times
