Judicial selection in North Carolina
| Judicial selection in North Carolina | |
 | |
| Supreme Court of North Carolina | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 8 years |
| North Carolina Court of Appeals | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 8 years |
| North Carolina Superior Courts | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 8 years |
| North Carolina District Courts | |
| Method: | Partisan election |
| Term: | 4 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 North Carolina, including:
- Supreme Court of North Carolina
- North Carolina Court of Appeals
- North Carolina Superior Courts, and
- Limited jurisdiction courts
As of April 2025, all North Carolina judges were chosen through partisan elections. Under the North Carolina Constitution, judges' terms begin on January 1 following their election or re-election.
Supreme Court of North Carolina
- See also: Supreme Court of North Carolina
The seven justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court are chosen through partisan elections. Justices are elected to eight-year terms and must face re-election if they wish to serve again.[1]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a person must be licensed to practice law in North Carolina. There is a mandatory retirement age of 72 years.[2]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is elected by voters to serve in that capacity for an eight-year term.[3]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a successor to serve until the next general election which is held more than 60 days after the vacancy occurs. The governor must select an appointee from a list of three recommendations provided by the executive committee of the political party with which the vacating justice was affiliated.[4] An election is then held for a full eight-year term.[5][1]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
North Carolina Court of Appeals
- See also: North Carolina Court of Appeals
The 15 judges of the North Carolina Court of Appeals are chosen through partisan elections. Judges are elected to eight-year terms and must face re-election if they wish to serve again.[1] These elections were nonpartisan from 2004 until a law passed in 2016 made them partisan again, beginning in 2018.
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a person must be licensed to practice law in North Carolina. There is a mandatory retirement age of 72 years.[2]
Chief judge
The chief judge of the court of appeals is selected by the chief justice of the supreme court to serve indefinitely.[3]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a successor to serve until the next general election which is held more than 60 days after the vacancy occurs. The governor must select an appointee from a list of three recommendations provided by the executive committee of the political party with which the vacating judge was affiliated.[6] An election is then held for a full eight-year term.[5][1]
North Carolina Superior Courts
- See also: North Carolina Superior Courts
The judges of the North Carolina Superior Courts are chosen through partisan elections. Judges are elected to eight-year terms and must face re-election if they wish to serve again.[1]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a person must be licensed to practice law in North Carolina. There is a mandatory retirement age of 72 years.[2]
Senior resident
The senior resident judge of each superior court is chosen by seniority and serves indefinitely. The judge manages the administrative duties of the court.[3]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a successor to serve until the next general election which is held more than 60 days after the vacancy occurs. An election would be held for a full eight-year term.[5][1]
Limited jurisdiction courts
North Carolina has one type of limited jurisdiction court: North Carolina District Courts.
North Carolina District Courts
- See also: North Carolina District Courts
The judges of the North Carolina District Courts are chosen through partisan elections. District judges serve four-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court.[5][1]
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a successor to serve until the next general election which is held more than 60 days after the vacancy occurs. If the unexpired term ends on the first of January after the next election, the election for the seat would be for a four-year term. If the unexpired term ends on the first of January two years after the next election, the election for the seat would be for the unexpired term.[7] For more information on these elections, visit the North Carolina judicial elections page.
History
Below is a timeline noting changes to judicial selection methods in North Carolina presented in reverse chronological order.
- 2017: On March 23, 2017, the North Carolina legislature overrode Gov. Roy Cooper's (D) veto of House Bill 100 and reinstituted partisan elections for superior and district court judges. Elections for superior court judges were nonpartisan from 1998 to 2016, and elections for district court judges were nonpartisan from 2002 to 2016. This change was effective with the 2018 elections.[8][9]
- 2016:
- On May 6, 2016, the North Carolina Supreme Court declared the 2015 retention law unconstitutional in Faires v. State Board of Elections.[1]
- In December 2016, Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed a bill making the election of supreme court and court of appeals judges partisan for the first time since 2004, starting with the 2018 election cycle.[10][11]
- 2015:
- On June 11, 2015, McCrory signed a bill changing how supreme court justices were elected to additional terms.[12] The bill eliminated the need for sitting judges to run in contested elections at the ends of their terms; instead, judges would run in yes-no retention elections.[13]
- In October 2015, McCrory signed a bill requiring North Carolina Court of Appeals judicial candidates to note their party affiliation when filing. Under this law, judges did not run in partisan primaries but were required to indicate their party designations when filing for candidacy. A judge was permitted to run under unaffiliated status. The affiliated party or unaffiliated status appeared on the ballot.[14] This law lasted until the passage in 2016 of a law returning appellate courts to partisan elections.[10]
- 2011: Governor Bev Perdue (D) established by executive order a selection panel to assist in the filling of judicial vacancies in the appellate and superior courts.[15]
- 2002: The General Assembly of North Carolina passed the Judicial Campaign Reform Act, establishing nonpartisan elections for appellate judges, starting in 2004, and giving candidates the option of public financing.[16]
- 2001: Nonpartisan elections were established for district court judges, starting in 2002.[17]
- 1996: Nonpartisan elections were established for superior court judges, starting in 1998, with judges elected by voters of their respective districts rather than the entire state.[17]
- 1977: Governor Jim Hunt (D) created a selection panel to assist in filling midterm vacancies on the superior courts and used the panel for the duration of his tenure.[17]
- 1967: The North Carolina Court of Appeals was created.[17]
- 1868: North Carolina's 1868 constitution established that judges were to be elected by popular vote to eight-year terms.[17]
- 1776: North Carolina's 1776 constitution established that judges were to be appointed by the General Assembly for life tenure.[17]
Courts in North Carolina
In North Carolina, there are three federal district courts, a state supreme court, a state court of appeals, and trial courts with both general and subject matter jurisdiction.
Click a link for information about that court type.
The image below depicts the flow of cases through North Carolina'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.[18]
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.[19] 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 1.7 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | School of Government, "History of North Carolina Judicial Elections," August 2020
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 North Carolina Judicial Branch, "Judicial Qualifications Summary," September 28, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: North Carolina," accessed September 20, 2021
- ↑ Ballotpedia Election Administration Legislation Tracker, "North Carolina S382," accessed December 19, 2024
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 North Carolina General Assembly, "North Carolina Constitution - Article IV," accessed September 20, 2021 (Section 19)
- ↑ Ballotpedia Election Administration Legislation Tracker, "North Carolina S382," accessed December 19, 2024
- ↑ North Carolina Legislature, "Article 14. - District Judges," accessed April 12, 2023
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Veto override means voters will know judges’ party affiliations," March 23, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "House Bill 100," accessed May 5, 2017
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 General Assembly of North Carolina, "Session Law 2016-125 Senate Bill 4," December 16, 2016
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Session Law 2002-158 Senate Bill 1054," October 10, 2002
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "House Bill 222 / S.L. 2015-66," accessed June 12, 2015
- ↑ WRAL, "Proposal keeps sitting NC Supreme Court justices from facing opponents," May 28, 2015
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedgavel - ↑ Office of the North Carolina Governor, "Press Release: Gov. Perdue Takes Step to Remove Politics from Judicial Appointments," April 5, 2011
- ↑ NCjudges.org, "The Judicial Campaign Reform Act," archived May 13, 2008
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 American Judicature Society, "History of Reform Efforts: North Carolina," accessed August 19, 2014
- ↑ 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:
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina
State courts:
Supreme Court of North Carolina • North Carolina Court of Appeals • North Carolina Superior Courts • North Carolina District Courts
State resources:
Courts in North Carolina • North Carolina judicial elections • Judicial selection in North Carolina
