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Judicial selection in New Mexico
| Judicial selection in New Mexico | |
 | |
| New Mexico Supreme Court | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 8 years |
| New Mexico Court of Appeals | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 8 years |
| New Mexico District Courts | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 6 years |
Judicial selection refers to the process used to select judges for courts. At the state level, methods of judicial selection vary substantially in the United States, and in some cases between different court types within a state. There are six primary types of judicial selection: partisan and nonpartisan elections, the Michigan method, assisted appointment, gubernatorial appointment, and legislative elections. To read more about how these selection methods are used across the country, click here.
This article covers how state court judges are selected in New Mexico, including:
- New Mexico Supreme Court,
- New Mexico Court of Appeals,
- New Mexico District Courts, and
- Limited jurisdiction courts
As of April 2025, all judges in New Mexico were selected through partisan elections followed by nonpartisan retention elections.
Click here to notify us of changes to judicial selection methods in this state.
New Mexico Supreme Court
- See also: New Mexico Supreme Court
The five justices of the New Mexico Supreme Court are chosen through partisan elections. After serving for one year, the appointed justice must win the first partisan general election after their appointment to serve the remainder of the unexpired term. Justices serve eight-year terms.[1] To serve additional terms, justices must receive at least 57% of the vote in a retention election.[1]
Qualifications
To serve on the supreme court, a person must:
- be at least 35 years old;
- have practiced law for ten years before assuming office; and
- have been a New Mexico resident for three years before assuming office.[2]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected by a peer vote of the justices to serve a two-year term. The chief justice must have been elected to the court, not appointed to fill a vacancy.[3]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a justice from a list of qualified candidates recommended by a judicial nominating commission. The appointed judge will serve until the first general election held one year after their appointment. The appointee must run in that general election to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.[4]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
New Mexico Court of Appeals
- See also: New Mexico Court of Appeals
The 10 judges of the New Mexico Court of Appeals are chosen through partisan elections. After serving for one year, the appointed judge must win the first partisan general election after their appointment to serve the remainder of the unexpired term. Judges serve eight-year terms.[1] To serve additional terms, judges must receive at least 57% of the vote in a retention election.[1]
Qualifications
To serve on the court of appeals, a person must:
- be at least 35 years old;
- have practiced law for ten years before assuming office; and
- have been a New Mexico resident for three years before assuming office.[5]
Chief judge
The chief judge of the court of appeals is selected by peer vote to serve a two-year term.[6]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a judge from a list of qualified candidates recommended by a judicial nominating commission. The appointed judge will serve until the first general election held one year after their appointment. The appointee must run in that general election to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.[4] There is one current vacancy on the New Mexico Court of Appeals, out of the court's 10 judicial positions.
New Mexico District Courts
- See also: New Mexico District Courts
The judges of the New Mexico District Courts are chosen through partisan elections. After serving for one year, the appointed judge must win the first partisan general election after their appointment to serve the remainder of the unexpired term. Judges serve six-year terms.[1]
To serve additional terms, judges must receive at least 57% of the vote in a nonpartisan retention election.[1]
Qualifications
To serve as a district court judge, a person must:
- be at least 35 years old;
- have practiced law for six years before assuming office;
- have been a New Mexico resident for three years before assuming office; and
- reside in the judicial district to be served.[7]
Chief judge
The chief judge of each judicial district is selected by a majority vote of the district judges.[8]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a judge from a list of qualified candidates recommended by a judicial nominating committee. The appointed judge will serve until the first general election held one year after their appointment. The appointee must run in that general election to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.[9]
Limited jurisdiction courts
New Mexico has four types of limited jurisdiction courts: New Mexico Magistrate Court, Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, New Mexico Municipal Courts, and New Mexico Probate Courts.[10] For more information on these elections, visit the New Mexico judicial elections page.
New Mexico Magistrate Court
- See also: New Mexico Magistrate Court
Judges of the New Mexico Magistrate Courts are elected to four-year terms. Vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment. A magistrate judge must be a resident and qualified elector of the magistrate district and have a high school diploma or its equivalent. In districts with a population over 200,000, magistrate judges must also be a member of the New Mexico Bar and licensed to practice law in New Mexico.[11]
Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court
- See also: Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court
Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court judges are chosen through partisan elections. Metropolitan judges serve four-year terms. To serve additional terms, judges must receive at least 57% of the vote in a nonpartisan retention election.[1] Vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment. A metropolitan court judge must be a member of the New Mexico Bar and must have practiced law in New Mexico for at least three years.[12]
New Mexico Municipal Courts
- See also: New Mexico Municipal Courts
Judges of the New Mexico Municipal Courts are elected to four-year terms. Vacancies are filled by the governing body of the municipality. Qualifications for municipal court judges vary by municipality.[13]
New Mexico Probate Courts
- See also: New Mexico Probate Courts
Judges of the New Mexico Probate Courts are elected to four-year terms. After serving two consecutive terms, judges may not serve another term until two years have passed.[14] Vacancies are filled by the board of county commissioners.[15]
History
Below is a timeline noting changes to judicial selection methods in New Mexico, presented in reverse chronological order.
- 1994: The percentage of the vote required to retain a judge was raised to 57%.[16]
- 1988: A constitutional amendment established an assisted appointment method of filling judicial vacancies.[16]
- 1965: The New Mexico Court of Appeals was created and judges were elected to eight-year terms.[16]
- 1952: Governor Edwin Mechem (R) created a judicial nominating commission to assist with filling judicial vacancies. Succeeding governors used similar voluntary assisted appointment methods until the constitution was amended in 1988.[16]
- 1912: The New Mexico Constitution established that supreme court justices were to be elected by popular vote to eight-year terms and district court judges were to be elected to six-year terms.[16]
Courts in New Mexico
In New Mexico, there is one federal district court, a state supreme court, a state court of appeals, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction.
Click a link for information about that court type.
The image below depicts the flow of cases through New Mexico's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.
Selection of federal judges
United States district court judges, who are selected from each state, go through a different selection process from that of state judges.
The district courts are served by Article III federal judges, who are appointed for life during good behavior. They are usually first recommended by senators (or members of the House, occasionally). The President of the United States nominates judges, who must then be confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution.[17]
In other states
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.[18] 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 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed September 2, 2021 (Article VI Section 33) Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ NMOneSource.com, "Current New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978," accessed September 2, 2021 (Chapter 34 Article 2)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed March 29, 2024 (Article VI Section 35)
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed September 2, 2021 (Article VI Section 28)
- ↑ NMOneSource.com, "Current New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978," accessed September 2, 2021 (Chapter 34 Article 5)
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed September 2, 2021 (Article VI Section 14)
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed September 2, 2021 (Article VI Section 38)
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed September 2, 2021 (Article VI Section 36)
- ↑ New Mexico Courts, "About the Courts," accessed September 2, 2021
- ↑ NMOneSource.com, "Current New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978," accessed September 2, 2021 (Chapter 35 Articles 1-2)
- ↑ NMOneSource.com, "Current New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978," accessed September 2, 2021 (Chapter 34 Article 8A)
- ↑ NMOneSource.com, "Current New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978," accessed September 2, 2021 (Chapter 35 Article 14)
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitution," accessed September 2, 2021 (Article X Section 2)
- ↑ NMOneSource.com, "Current New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978," accessed September 2, 2021 (Chapter 10 Article 3)
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 National Center for State Courts, "History of Reform Efforts: New Mexico | Formal Changes Since Inception," accessed September 2, 2021
- ↑ U.S. Courts, "FAQ: Federal Judges," accessed March 26, 2015
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Judicial Selection: The Process of Choosing Judges," accessed August 10, 2021
Federal courts:
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of New Mexico • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of New Mexico
State courts:
New Mexico Supreme Court • New Mexico Court of Appeals • New Mexico District Courts • New Mexico Magistrate Court • New Mexico Municipal Courts • New Mexico Probate Courts • New Mexico Problem-Solving Courts • New Mexico Workers' Compensation Administration Court • Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court
State resources:
Courts in New Mexico • New Mexico judicial elections • Judicial selection in New Mexico
