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2002 FINAL STATELEGISLATIVE PROGRAM MIDDLE RANGE ISSUE ISSUE: JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT/CONFIRMATION SUMMARY: The method of appointing and confirming judges has received considerable scrutiny in the General Assembly and is likely to continue. When a vacancy occurs in Maryland courts, the Administrative Office of the Courts notifies the appropriate Judicial Nominating Commission (a statewide Appellate or regional Trial Court) of the opening which in turn advertises the vacancy and solicits applications from bar associations. Applications for the position are distributed to Commission members in advance of a meeting at which the filings are reviewed along with recommendations of bar associations and other interested parties. Each candidate for the opening is interviewed by the full Commission or by panels of the Commission. Once these interviews are completed, the Commission prepares a list of the candidates whose legal and professional qualifications make them suitable for judicial appointment. This list contains the names of those candidates who have received a favorable vote from a majority of the Commission present at a voting session. Votes are taken by secret written ballot. The approved list is then sent to the Governor who must select the appointment from the names on the list or from a previous list submitted within the 24 months prior to the vacancy (Executive Order 01.01.1995.10). Once the Governor appoints a judge he or she may serve on the bench immediately. Appellate and District Court judges are subject to Senate confirmation while Circuit Court judges must run in contested elections. If an Appellate or District Court judge is not confirmed by the Senate during the regular session of the General Assembly, he or she may continue to sit until the end of the session and then leave the Bench. Attention on the judicial appointment and confirmation process was intense in the 1993 session owing to the controversy surrounding the unsuccessful appointment of a District Court judge. A constitutional amendment was submitted to prohibit appellate and district court judges from taking office until the Maryland State Senate confirms the nomination. The MSBA opposed this proposal because of the burdens that would be placed on those courts with vacancies for up to twelve months. The amendment was introduced again in 1994, but by this time the original momentum behind the 1993 proposal was gone and the bill died. A half-hearted effort to add Senate confirmation to the selection process for Circuit Court judges was filed in 1996 and subsequently withdrawn. Since that time, no bills or amendments have been offered to change the judicial appointment process, although an interim hearing on the topic of contested Circuit Court elections was held by the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in 2000. Given the strong statements of support expressed at the hearing in favor of keeping the present system, it is unlikely that any effort to change the selection process will be launched in the immediate future. MSBA 2002 POSITION: Any legislation that would alter the present system of judicial appointments and confirmation should be referred to the MSBA Committee on Judicial Appointments for a recommendation. SAMPLE LEGISLATION:
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