On November 6th, Coconino County’s voters adopted merit selection to replace the direct election of superior court judges. Going forward, candidates for superior court judge vacancies will apply to a sixteen-person commission, which will nominate qualified candidates based on their merit and submit their names to the governor for appointment to the bench. This process has been used since 1975 for Arizona’s appellate judges, including the Supreme Court, and is also now used to select superior court judges in Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal Counties. Superior Court judges appointed under the merit selection system appear on their county’s election ballot for the first time two years after their initial appointment and then every four years. The county’s voters then decide whether to retain the judge in office for another four years.
