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Arizona Supreme Court justice vacancy (October 2024)
| Arizona Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Brutinel vacancy |
| Date: October 31, 2024 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Maria Elena Cruz |
| Date: January 29, 2025 |
Governor Katie Hobbs (D) appointed Maria Elena Cruz to the Arizona Supreme Court to replace justice Robert Brutinel, who retired on October 31, 2024.[1] Brutinel was the chief justice of the court from July 1, 2019 until July 1, 2024, when the Arizona Supreme Court elected Associate Justice Ann Timmer to a five-year term to succeed him as chief justice.
Cruz is Governor Hobbs' first nominee to the seven-member supreme court, and the first judicial appointee named to the court by a Democratic governor in Arizona for over a decade. Cruz was sworn in on February 3, 2025.
In Arizona, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a governor-controlled judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission with a majority of members selected by the governor. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the seat is filled as it normally would be if the vacancy occurred at the end of a justice's term. Potential justices submit applications to the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments, and once the commission has chosen a slate of nominees, the governor picks one from that list. After occupying the seat for two years, the newly appointed justice stands for retention in the next general election. The justice then serves a full six-year term if he or she is retained by voters.[2]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Arizona Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- A list of finalists recommended to the governor.
- A list of candidates who applied to the vacancy.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2024.
The appointee
- See also: Maria Elena Cruz
Education
Cruz received an undergraduate degree and a J.D. from the University of Arizona.[3]
Career
- 2025 - Present: Justice, Arizona Supreme Court
- 2017 - 2025: Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One
- 2009-2017: Judge, Yuma County Superior Court
Prior to her service as a judge, she worked as a judge pro tempore for the Cocopah Indian Tribe, an attorney with the Yuma County Attorney’s Office, and as an assistant legal defender.[3][4]
Appointee candidates and nominations
Finalists
On December 9, 2024, the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments released a list of five finalists that will have their candidacies forwarded to Governor Katie Hobbs (D), who will make the final appointment. The finalists were:[5]
- Arizona Court of Appeals judge Maria Elena Cruz
- Deputy Director of the Arizona Department of Economic Security Nicole Davis
- Arizona Court of Appeals judge Andrew Jacobs
- Principal assistant city attorney for the City of Tucson Regina Nassen
- Principal deputy solicitor general for the Office of the Arizona Attorney General Alexander Samuels[6]
Semi-finalists
On November 17, 2024, the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments released a list of eight candidates that had made it through the first round of scrutiny. The Commission scheduled a meeting for December 9, 2024, where the members sought public comment and interviewed all of the candidates. From here, the Commission will send a list of at least three finalists to Governor Katie Hobbs (D) who will make the final appointment. The semi-finalists were:[7]
- Arizona Court of Appeals judge Maria Elena Cruz
- Deputy Director of the Arizona Department of Economic Security Nicole Davis
- Attorney Andrew Gaona
- Arizona Court of Appeals judge Andrew Jacobs
- Assistant legislative attorney of the Tohono O’odham Nation Doreen McPaul
- Principal assistant city attorney for the City of Tucson Regina Nassen
- Principal deputy solicitor general for the Office of the Arizona Attorney General Alexander Samuels
- Attorney Amy Sells[8]
Applicants
On November 1, 2024, the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments released a list of 17 candidates who applied to succeed Brutinel. The applicants were:[9]
- Attorney Sheena Chiang
- Professor Ann Ching
- Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Janette Corral
- Arizona Court of Appeals judge Maria Elena Cruz
- Deputy Director of the Arizona Department of Economic Security Nicole Davis
- Maricopa County Superior Court, Arizona Judge Monica Edelstein
- Attorney Andrew Gaona
- Arizona Court of Appeals judge Andrew Jacobs
- Attorney Shalanda Looney
- Assistant legislative attorney of the Tohono O’odham Nation Doreen McPaul
- Attorney Robert McWhirter
- Principal assistant city attorney for the City of Tucson Regina Nassen
- Principal deputy solicitor general for the Office of the Arizona Attorney General Alexander Samuels
- Attorney Amy Sells
- Appellate attorney supervisor Mikel Steinfeld of the Maricopa County Public Defender's Office
- Attorney Barry Stratford
- Maricopa County Superior Court Judge William Wingard[10][11]
Below is the news release published by the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments:[10]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Arizona
In Arizona, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a governor-controlled judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission with a majority of members selected by the governor. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: Arizona Supreme Court
Justices
Following Brutinel's retirement, the Arizona Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ James Beene | Appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey (R) in 2019, and retained in 2022 | |
| ■ Clint Bolick | Appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey (R) in 2016, and retained in 2018 | |
| ■ Kathryn Hackett King | Appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey (R) in 2021 | |
| ■ John Lopez IV | Appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey (R) in 2016, and retained in 2020 | |
| ■ Bill Montgomery | Appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey (R) in 2019, and retained in 2022 | |
| ■ Ann Timmer | Appointed by Gov. Jan Brewer (R) in 2012, and retained in 2016 and 2022 |
About the court
Founded in February 1912, the Arizona Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort. The current chief of the court is Ann Timmer. Seven justices serve on the court. It has administrative supervision over all the other courts, and it hears appeals of decisions from the Court of Appeals, as well as appeals in special cases from the Superior Court. Special cases include those involving the death penalty and some involving elected officials or disputes between counties.[12][13]
About Justice Brutinel
- See also: Robert Brutinel
Brutinel earned his undergraduate degree in economics from Arizona State University in 1979. In 1982, he received his J.D. from the University of Arizona College of Law. He received a Master of Laws degree in judicial studies from Duke University in 2018.[3]
Brutinel was a founding partner of Lockwood & Brutinel and Brutinel & Jones. He was a judge on the Yavapai County Superior Court from 1996 to 2010, and he served as presiding judge from 2004 to 2010, when he was appointed to the state supreme court. Brutinel's other experience includes serving as president of the Arizona Judges’ Association executive committee and chairing the Juvenile Dependency Advisory Commission.[3]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2024
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2024
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2024. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2023.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Office of the Governor, "Governor Katie Hobbs Appoints Judge Maria Elena Cruz to the Arizona Supreme Court," January 29, 2025
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map," accessed March 23, 2023
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Yuma County Court Bio Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "bio" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Yuma Sun, "Meet the Candidate: Yuma County Superior Court Judge, Division 6," September 28, 2012
- ↑ Note: Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
- ↑ KJZZ, "Hobbs to consider 5 Arizona Supreme Court nominees," December 10, 2024
- ↑ Note: Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
- ↑ Commission on Appellate Court Appointments, "Public Asked for Input on Candidates for Arizona Supreme Court," November 22, 2024
- ↑ Note: Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Commission on Appellate Court Appointments, "17 Applicants Being Considered for Arizona Supreme Court," November 1, 2024
- ↑ Arizona Daily Star," November 2, 2024
- ↑ Arizona Judicial Branch, "AZ Courts," accessed September 11, 2015
- ↑ Policy Report, "Judging the Justices: A Review of the Arizona Supreme Court, 2003-2004," April 8, 2005
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Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Arizona • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Arizona
State courts:
Arizona Supreme Court • Arizona Court of Appeals • Arizona Superior Court • Arizona Justice Courts • Arizona Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Arizona • Arizona judicial elections • Judicial selection in Arizona
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