Forty Years of Judicial Merit Selection - April 2006 - Cba President's Message to Members
| Jurisdiction | Colorado,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 35 No. 4 Pg. 4 |
| Pages | 4 |
| Publication year | 2006 |
2006, April, Pg. 4. Forty Years of Judicial Merit Selection - April 2006 - CBA President's Message to Members
April 2006
Vol. 35, No. 4 [Page 4]
CBA President's Message to Members
Forty Years of Judicial Merit Selection
by Roger E. Clark
Prior to 1966, Colorado judges were elected. In that year, a coalition of citizen groups led by the Colorado Bar Association and the League of Women Voters pursued an initiative effort that was successful in changing the Colorado Constitution to provide for merit selection of judges.(fn1)
The Missouri Plan
The system adopted in Colorado(fn2) was based on the "Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan," often simply called the "Missouri Plan." In 1940, Missouri became the first state to use a nominative - appointive - elective plan.(fn3)
In Missouri, judges are nominated by a judicial commission and then re-elected by the Governor. The judges then stand for retention elections, based on a simple majority vote, after their first twelve months in office and then at the end of each successive term of office.(fn4)
The Missouri Plan became a model for many other states. Between 1958 and 1990, one-half of the states adopted new judicial selection systems and 84 percent of those that changed moved to some version of the merit selection plan.(fn5)
Colorado's Merit Selection System
The similarities between the Missouri Plan and the Colorado Merit Selection System are evident. Colorado also has two levels of nominating commissions.
Supreme Court Nominating Commission
The Supreme Court Nominating Commission makes nominations for both the Colorado Supreme Court and the Colorado Court of Appeals.(fn6) It is chaired by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (who has no vote). The voting members are one lawyer; seven non-lawyers, one from each of the seven congressional districts; and one additional non-lawyer, appointed at large. No more than one-half, plus one, of the voting members can be from the same political party.(fn7)
Judicial District Nominating Commission
Each judicial district also has a nominating commission to make nominations for district and county court judgeships. Each Judicial District Nominating Commission is chaired by a Supreme Court Justice and comprises seven citizens from that judicial district. No more than four members of the commission can be from the same political party and...
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