Hawaii Judicial Selection 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 Hawaii Judicial Selection Commission is an independent state commission in Hawaii established by Section 4 of Article VI of the Hawaii Constitution that plays a role in the state's judicial selection process. The commission has nine members, selected by a combination of the governor, chief justice of the state supreme court, the state bar, and legislative leadership.[1]
Hawaii uses the assisted appointment method of judicial selection for its state courts. Using this method, the governor appoints state judges from a list of names submitted by the commission. This selection method is used for appointments to all appellate and general jurisdiction courts in the state.
The commission is a hybrid commission, which means that there is no majority of members chosen by either the governor or the state bar association. As of September 5, 2025, 11 states used this type of commission. To learn more about controlling majorities in judicial selection commissions, click here.
Members
Last updated: April 2025
The commission has nine members. No more than four members may be lawyers. Two members each are appointed by the governor, state Senate president, state House speaker, and Hawaii State Bar Association, with the final member appointed by the chief justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court. Members of the commission serve staggered six-year terms.[1]
| Members of the Hawaii Judicial Selection Commission, April 2025 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Appointed by | Term-end date |
| Chair - Florence T. Nakakuni | House Speaker | April 1, 2029 |
| Vice chair - Kamani B. Kualaʻau | House Speaker | April 1, 2027 |
| Secretary - Francine Dudoit-Tagupa | Senate President | April 1, 2026 |
| Simeon R. Acoba, Jr. | Bar Association | June 6, 2029 |
| Richard H. S. Sing | Bar Association | August 2, 2030 |
| Sylvia Yuen | Chief Justice | April 1, 2028 |
| Edmund D. Acoba | Senate President | April 1, 2029 |
| David McEwan | Governor | April 1, 2027 |
| Vacant | Governor | |
Process
In its rules, the commission lays out the following steps for filling a judicial vacancy:[2]
- The commission solicits applicants for a judicial vacancy.
- The commission eliminates any applicants who are not qualified to hold office.
- The commission interviews applicants and conducts background and qualification checks.
- The commission selects between four and six applicants to recommend to the governor for consideration.
- The governor selects a nominee from the list of recommendations.
The commission's rules provide the following criteria for evaluating prospective judges:[2]
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Retention process
The commission also determines whether a judge shall be retained. At least six months before the expiration of their term, the judge must notify the commission if they wish to seek retention. If so, the commission asks the public, and specifically lawyers, to submit comments about the judge for the review. The commission may interview individuals who have interacted with the judge in his professional capacity, and input from the judge is also sought. To be retained, at least five members of the commission must vote in favor of retention.[4]
Duties
As of April 2025, the Hawaii Judicial Selection Commission rules 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.[5]
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 - Members of the state Bar Association are responsible for electing 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-three courts in 22 states used assisted appointment to select state supreme court justices as of June 2021.[6][7] Hawaii used a hybrid 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.[5] 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.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hawaii State Judiciary, "Judicial Selection Commission," accessed October 7, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hawaii State Judiciary, "Judicial Selection Commission Rules," accessed April 11, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Hawaii; Judicial Nominating Commissions," accessed October 7, 2021
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 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.
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Hawaii • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Hawaii
State courts:
Hawaii Supreme Court • Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals • Hawaii Circuit Courts • Hawaii District Courts • Hawaii Family Courts
State resources:
Courts in Hawaii • Hawaii judicial elections • Judicial selection in Hawaii
