Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
State of New York Commission on Judicial Nomination
| Judicial nominating commissions |
|---|
 |
| Individual nominating committees |
| Select a committee in the dropdown below and click "Submit" to view information about that committee. |
| 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 State of New York Commission on Judicial Nomination is an independent state commission in New York established by the New York Constitution that plays a role in the state's judicial selection process. The Commission on Judicial Nomination has 12 members: four selected by the governor, four selected by the chief judge of the State of New York Court of Appeals, and four selected by leaders of the New York State Legislature.[1]
New York uses the assisted appointment method to select judges for the State of New York Court of Appeals. Using this method, the governor appoints state judges from a list of names submitted by the Commission on Judicial Nomination.
The Commission on Judicial Nomination 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 12, 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 on Judicial Nomination has 12 members. The governor selects four members: two members of the New York State Bar Association and two non-members of the bar. The chief judge of the State of New York Court of Appeals selects four members: two members of the state bar and two non-members of the bar. Four members are selected by leaders of the New York State Legislature: one by the speaker of the New York State Assembly, one by the temporary president of the New York State Senate, one by the Senate minority leader, and one by the Assembly minority leader.[1]
No more than two of the members selected by the governor may have the same political affiliation, and no more than two of the members selected by the chief judge of the court of appeals may have the same political affiliation. Commission members may not be judges, elected officials receiving compensation, or political party officials, although up to two former judges may be appointed to the commission. Members serve staggered four-year terms.[1]
| Members of the State of New York Commission on Judicial Nomination, April 2025[2] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Appointed by | Term-end date |
| Robin A. Bikkal | Temporary Senate President Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D) | March 21, 2027 |
| John A. Cirando | Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay (R) | March 31, 2029 |
| Mylan L. Denerstein | Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) | March 31, 2025[3] |
| Robert L. Haig | Chief Judge Janet DiFiore | March 31, 2026 |
| Russell T. Hernandez | Chief Judge Janet DiFiore | March 31, 2023[3] |
| Michael J. Hutter | Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt (R) | March 31, 2024 |
| Kenneth A. Manning | Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) | March 31, 2024[3] |
| Paul N. Samuels | Speaker of the Assembly Carl Heastie (D) | March 31, 2026 |
| Vacant | N/A | N/A |
| Vacant | N/A | N/A |
| Vacant | N/A | N/A |
| Vacant | N/A | N/A |
Process
The Commission on Judicial Nomination describes its process as follows:[4]
| “ |
THE PRE-NOMINATION PROCESS Whenever a vacancy on the Court of Appeals arises, the Commission begins the nomination process with extensive public notice of the vacancy, including dissemination of the notice through the Commission’s and other governmental websites, the media, bar associations, law schools, the Office of Court Administration, and all groups and individuals that request information updates from the Commission. In addition, the Commission, if practicable, holds informational meetings in areas around the State. The Commission also identifies and reaches out to specific potential candidates. To make the application process easier, the Commission, whenever possible, uses a two- step application procedure in which a candidate’s initial submission consists of a short-form questionnaire, including a resume, a statement setting forth the candidate’s qualifications and interest in seeking nomination, and any other materials the candidate wishes to include. If the Commission determines that a candidate merits an interview by the full commission, the candidate is asked to submit a full questionnaire. The Commission strives to obtain as complete a picture of candidates’ qualifications and achievements as possible. In addition to the questionnaires and personal statements, the Commission considers writing samples of the candidates and judicial decisions, if any. The Commission also considers each candidate’s reputation in the community, and information provided by colleagues, adversaries, and others who have come into contact with the candidate during his or her career. After gathering such relevant information, the Commission meets as a body to interview each of the final round of candidates under consideration. The candidates in the final group considered by the Commission must also submit full information on their finances. Only after this review process do the Commissioners cast votes to determine which candidates will be submitted to the Governor as well qualified to serve on the Court of Appeals. The voting procedures used by the Commission ensure that no candidate will be recommended to the Governor without broad support from a large majority of the Commission, including the favorable votes of at least eight of the twelve Commissioners. All proceedings and records of the Commission are confidential by statute. THE NOMINATION PROCESS For a vacancy in the office of Associate Judge, the Commission is required to nominate between three and seven candidates to the Governor. For the office of Chief Judge, the Commission must nominate seven candidates. The Commission does not rank the nominees submitted to the Governor. The Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, may only appoint judges to the Court of Appeals from the list of candidates nominated by the Commission.[5] |
” |
Duties
As of April 2025, the State of New York Commission on Judicial Nomination website 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.[6]
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.[7][8] New York 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 | ||
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.[6] 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 The New York State Senate, "New York State Constitution," accessed November 23, 2021 (Article VI §2)
- ↑ New York State, "Commission on Judicial Nomination | Commissioner Directory," accessed April 25, 2023
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 This member appears on the most recent roster online, but the term has expired.
- ↑ New York State, "State of New York Commission on Judicial Nomination," accessed November 23, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 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:
Second Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of New York, Western District of New York, Northern District of New York, Southern District of New York • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of New York, Western District of New York, Northern District of New York, Southern District of New York
State courts:
New York Court of Appeals • New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division • New York Supreme Court • New York County Courts • New York City Courts • New York Town and Village Courts • New York Family Courts • New York Surrogates' Courts • New York City Civil Court • New York City Criminal Courts • New York Court of Claims • New York Problem Solving Courts
State resources:
Courts in New York • New York judicial elections • Judicial selection in New York
