District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission

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Methods of judicial selection
Partisan elections
Nonpartisan elections
Michigan method
Retention elections
Assisted appointment
Bar-controlled commission
Governor-controlled commission
Hybrid commission
Legislative elections
Gubernatorial appointment

The District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission, also known as the JNC, is a commission in Washington, D.C. that plays a role in the judicial selection for the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The JNC has seven members, selected by the President of the United States, the Mayor of Washington, D. C., the Washington, D.C. Council, the chief justice of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and the District of Columbia bar association.

The District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission is modeled after the Missouri Plan in that the commission makes recommendations, but the final selection is left to either the voters or governor of the state. In this case, instead of being recommended to a governor, the recommendations are made to the President of the United States and judges for these courts are confirmed by the United States Senate.

The JNC is a hybrid commission, which means that there is no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state Bar association.

The District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission solicits and screens applicants to the local courts in Washington, D.C. and recommends three candidates to the President for each vacancy. The commission also appoints the chief judge of both courts. The JNC does not recommend judges to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or any other federal or state court.

Members

Last updated: April 2025.

The committee is made up of the following members.

• One member appointed by the President of the United States
• One member appointed by the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
• Two members appointed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia
• Two members appointed by the District of Columbia Bar
• One member appointed by the District of Columbia Council

The person appointed by the President serves a five-year term whereas the others serve six-year terms.

Members of the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission, April 2025
Name	Appointed by
Chair - Marie C. Johns	District of Columbia Council
Vice chair - Benjamin F. Wilson	Mayor of Washington, D. C.
Addy R. Schmitt	President of the United States
Vincent H. Cohen, Jr.	District of Columbia Bar
Yaida O. Ford	District of Columbia Bar
Linda W. Cropp	Mayor of Washington, D. C.
Tanya S. Chutkan	Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia

Process

When a vacancy occurs on either the District of Columbia Court of Appeals or Superior Court of the District of Columbia, the JNC invites qualified individuals to apply. After the application period is closed, the JNC publishes the names of all candidates and conducts a background investigation of applicants. According to the JNC website, "Applicants may request interviews with individual Commissioners, and may be interviewed by the full Commission." All information on candidates is then reviewed by the JNC, and it selects three candidates to recommend to the President of the United States.

Applicants must meet the statutory qualifications listed below. After the list is submitted, the President has 60 days to nominate one of the candidates to the United States Senate. The nomination then proceeds through the Senate as other judicial nominations.

Statutory Qualifications

In order to serve on either the District of Columbia Court of Appeals or the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, a judge must be:

• a U.S. citizen;
• a D.C. resident for more than 90 days prior to his or her appointment;
• either an active member of the D.C. bar, a professor at a D.C. law school, or an attorney employed by the U.S. or D.C. government for at least 5 years prior to his or her appointment; and
• has not served as a member of the District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure or the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission within two years prior to the nomination.

Senior judges of the District of Columbia courts

Judges who serve on either the District of Columbia Court of Appeals or the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and are under the age of 74, have the option to apply and serve as a senior judge for the court. Anytime before their appointed term ends or up to one year after the end of their term, they may ask the District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure to recommend them for senior status.

Duties

As of April 2025, the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission website did not list specific duties for members of the commission.

Control of judicial selection commissions

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. At the state supreme court level, this method is further divided into the following three types:
  • Bar-controlled commission: Members of the state Bar Association are responsible for electing 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.

Choose your state...AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington, D.C.West VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

http://ballotpedia.org/Judicial_selection_in_STATE

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

• District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission
• District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission Members
• District of Columbia Bar
• Council of the District of Columbia