Current through Bulletin 2024-06, March 15, 2024
(1)
The commission shall convene an organizational meeting within 10 days of the
end of the recruitment period.
(2)
During the organizational meeting the commission shall:
(a) allow public comment concerning:
(i) the nominating process;
(ii) qualifications for judicial
office;
(iii) issues facing the
judiciary; and
(iv) other issues as
determined appropriate by the commission; and
(b) following public comment, close the
meeting to the public to:
(i) establish a
timeframe for certifying a list of nominees to the governor;
(ii) discuss applicants; and
(iii) discuss conflicts of interest as
provided in R356-2-9.
(3) The Commission may meet as necessary to
certify the list of nominees to the governor, but shall certify the list of
nominees no later than 45 days after convening the organizational
meeting.
(4) The chair of the
commission presides at all meetings and ensures that each commissioner has the
opportunity to be a full participant in the commission process.
(5) The member of the Judicial Council
appointed by the chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court pursuant to Utah Code
Annotated Section
78A-10-202(6)
or
78A-10-302(8)
shall be a full participant in discussions of the commission, but may not
vote.
(6) The commission staff
shall:
(a) ensure that the commission follows
the rules promulgated by CCJJ;
(b)
resolve any questions regarding the rules promulgated by CCJJ;
(c) take summary minutes of commission
meetings which shall include:
(i) the date,
time and place of the meeting;
(ii)
a list of the commission members present and a list of those absent or
excused;
(iii) a list of commission
staff present;
(iv) a general
description of the decisions made;
(v) any declarations by commission members of
a relationship, interest or bias concerning any applicant;
(vi) a record of the total tally of all
votes, but not the vote of individual commission members;
(vii) written statements submitted to the
commission; and
(viii) any other
matter desired by the commission to be included; and
(d) perform other tasks assigned by the
commission that are consistent with governing statutes and rules.
(7)
(a) The commission shall determine which
applicants will be invited to interview.
(b) Each commission member shall have the
opportunity to question applicants during interviews and to discuss the
qualifications of applicants.
(c)
In questioning applicants and discussing the qualifications of applicants, the
chair shall speak last and the member of the Judicial Council appointed by the
chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court shall speak next to last.
(8)
(a) If a commission member refuses to follow
governing statutes or rules, the commission member is disqualified from the
commission and the governor shall appoint a replacement.
(b) The commission staff determines whether a
commission member refuses to follow governing statutes or rules.
(9)
(a) Following all applicant interviews,
commission members shall determine by confidential ballot which applicants will
be certified to the governor as nominees.
(b) The Appellate Court Nominating Commission
shall certify a list of seven names to the governor.
(c) Trial Court Nominating Commissions shall
certify a list of five names to the governor.
(10)
(a)
Prior to certifying the list of nominees to the governor, the commission shall
allow public comment on the nominees for a minimum of 10 days.
(b) Following the public comment, the
commission may remove an applicant from the list of nominees if:
(i) the commission receives new information
about an applicant that demonstrates the applicant is unfit to serve as a
judge;
(ii) provides to the
applicant being considered for removal from the list of nominees a copy of any
written comments received during the public comment period about that
applicant;
(iii) allows the
applicant being considered for removal from the list the opportunity to respond
to the information received during the public comment period; and
(iv) not less than one fewer than the total
number of commission members at the meeting vote in favor of removing the
applicant from the list of nominees.
(d) If the commission removes an applicant
from the list of nominees the commission shall select another nominee from
among the interviewed applicants and again allow public comment on the nominees
for a minimum of 10 days.