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Speak Up! - View Question #324 |
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Question: What are the requirements to be a judge in USA?
Answer: In Arizona, there are two primary ways to become a judge.
Some judges, most notably Superior Court judges in Maricopa and Pima counties and all appellate judges, are appointed by the Arizona Governor.
-Superior Court judges must be at least thirty years old, a resident of county in which the vacancy exists, be a member of the state bar of Arizona in good standing and have at least five years of experience as a lawyer in Arizona.
-The judges in the Arizona Court of Appeals must be at least 30 years old, a resident of the division for at least three years and a resident of Arizona for at least 5 years and a lawyer in good standing in Arizona for at least 5 years.
-The Arizona Supreme Court judges must be under the age of 65, a member in good standing of the State Bar and resident of Arizona for at least 10 years.
The lawyers who meet those requirements and want to be a judge must fill out a long application form and submit it to a commission of 16 lawyers and non-lawyers who sort through all the applications and decide which applicants they want to interview. Not all applicants get an interview with the commission. The lawyers who get an interview answer tough questions about their background and face public scrutiny at the interviews, which are open to the general public.
After the interviews are complete, the commission meets to decide which lawyers to recommend to the governor. The recommended lawyers cannot all come from the same political party. The commission must recommend at least 3 lawyers to the governor. She then interviews the recommended lawyers personally and makes a decision about which lawyer to appoint to the judicial position. The Arizona State Senate then meets to confirm the nomination. To read more about this process, which is called 'merit selection,' you can go to the following web page: http://www.supreme.state.az.us/hr/meritpage.htm
Most municipal judges are also appointed to their position. They are not appointed by the governor, however. They are appointed by city officials. Requirements vary from city to city.
Other judges are elected in Arizona. This includes Superior Court judges in every other county except Maricopa and Pima county and all justices of the peace. The Superior Court judges who are elected must be at least 30 years old, be a member in good standing of the state bar of Arizona and have practiced law for at least 5 years. The justices of the peace do not have to be lawyers. The position is open to any resident of the precinct over the age of 18.
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