Supreme Weekly: Chief Justices of the courts

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July 7, 2011

by: Katy Farrell

In Supreme Weekly, we often refer to a state's Chief Justice. As the head of a state's judiciary, these individuals make important decisions regarding the role of the judicial branch by deciding which programs to sponsor, ways to interact with citizens, how to allocate a budget and much more. With Pennsylvania's and Missouri's chiefs in the news this week, and Alabama and Wisconsin's last week, we decided to look into methods of selection and term length among the states.

Methods

Method	Number of states
Elected by voters	Seven
Appointed by governor	Thirteen
Peer vote	Twenty-one
Seniority	Six
Miscellaneous	Three

Election

In seven states, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is elected by voters for a full term.

State	Elected by voters	Term
Alabama	Yes	Six years
Arkansas	Yes	Eight years
Minnesota	Yes	Six years
Montana	Yes	Eight years
North Carolina	Yes	Eight years
Ohio	Yes	Six years
Texas	Yes	Six years

Appointment

In thirteen states, the Chief Justice is appointed by the governor. Most of these states have some form of judicial nominating commission and state legislature approval.

State	Appointed by	Confirmed by	Term
California	Governor	Judicial selection commission	Twelve years
Connecticut	Governor from commission*	Legislature	Indefinite
Delaware	Governor from commission	Senate	Twelve years
Hawaii	Governor from commission	Senate	Ten years
Maine	Governor		Seven years
Maryland	Governor		Indefinite
Massachusetts	Governor	Governor's Council	Until mandatory retirement at 70
Nebraska	Governor		Duration of term
New Hampshire	Governor from commission	Executive council	Five years
New Jersey	Governor	Senate	Indefinite
New York	Governor from commission	Senate	Fourteen years
Rhode Island	Governor from commission	Legislature	Indefinite
Vermont	Governor from commission	Senate	Six years

• In Connecticut, the Governor may appoint a sitting justice as Chief Justice, in which case the commission is bypassed.

Peer vote

Twenty-one states elect their Chief Justice by a vote of other justices. The terms vary from one year to indefinitely.

State	Elected by other justice	Term
Alaska	Yes	Three years
Arizona	Yes	Five years
Colorado	Yes	Indefinite
Florida	Yes	Two years
Georgia	Yes	Four years
Idaho	Yes	Four years
Illinois	Yes	Three years
Iowa	Yes	Eight years
Kentucky	Yes	Four years
Michigan	Yes	Two years
Missouri	Yes	Two years
New Mexico	Yes	Two years
Oklahoma	Yes	Two years
Oregon	Yes	Six years
South Dakota	Yes	Four years
Tennessee	Yes	Two years
Utah	Yes	Four years
Virginia	Yes	Four years
Washington	Yes	Four years
West Virginia	Yes	One year
Wyoming	Yes	Four years

Seniority

Six states choose their Chief Justices based on seniority.

State	Seniority	Term
Kansas	Yes	Indefinite
Louisiana	Yes	Indefinite
Mississippi	Yes	Indefinite
Nevada	Yes - Chief position rotates based on seniority.	Two year term
Pennsylvania	Yes	Indefinite
Wisconsin	Yes	Indefinite

Unique methods

• In North Dakota, the Chief Justice is selected by members of the Supreme Court and District Courts. The Chief serves a five-year term.

• In South Carolina, the South Carolina State Legislature elects the Chief Justice for a 10-year term.

• In Indiana, the Chief Justice is chosen by a judicial nominating commission for a five-year term.

Chief Justices in the news

Missouri

This week, exiting Chief Justice William Ray Price warned that outside problems have increasingly forced the Missouri courts to deviate from their integral role. His frustration has been echoed by other Chief Justices across the nation this year. The biggest issue facing the courts currently is tight state budgets, which interfere with necessary programs and personnel. In an interview, Price said, "...one challenge is to deal with efficiency without losing the sense of individual justice that people expect when they come to a court." According to Price, the legislature's involvement in changing the state's method of judicial selection, the Missouri Plan, also distracts the branch.

The Chief Justice gave this interview on his last day in the two-year term. As of July 1, he is succeeded by Richard Teitelman. Teitelman has been a justice on the court since 2002, when he was appointed by Governor Bob Holden.

Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, former candidates for this year's judicial election have taken Chief Justice Ronald Castille to court. Due to budget restrictions, Castille and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court want to close 10% of the state's Magisterial Districts. One of those districts, in Dauphin County, already had candidates declared for the primary election in May.

Those candidates are suing Castille in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. They contend that eliminating the district seat in April is a violation of voting rights protections, since those citizens will not be able to vote for a judge in the primary.

This week, Castille responded to the charges. First, he claims legal immunity and asked Judge William Caldwell to dismiss the charges. Next, if the case proceeds, he says that voters of the district were not disenfranchised, since they will be eligible to vote for the newly created district in the general election in November.

See also

• Female chief justices of state supreme courts
• Supreme Weekly: News from Alabama, New Jersey and Wisconsin
• Judgepedia's Supreme Weekly: The States