SF 1788

as introduced - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 02/09/2010 02:23am

A bill for an act
relating to courts; including appellate court appointments in the Commission on
Judicial Selection process; amending Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 480B.01,
subdivisions 1, 6, 8, 10.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 480B.01, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Judicial vacancies.

If a new text begin vacancy occurs in the office of a new text end judge of
new text begin new text end the new text begin Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, new text end district court new text begin , new text end or Workers' Compensation Court of
Appeals deleted text begin dies, resigns, retires, or is removed during the judge's term of office deleted text end , or if a new
deleted text begin district or Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals deleted text end judgeship is created, the resulting
vacancy must be filled by the governor as provided in this section.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 480B.01, subdivision 6, is amended to read:

Subd. 6.

Temporary ineligibility for vacancy.

Members of the commission who
would otherwise be eligible to hold judicial office may not be considered or appointed to
fill a deleted text begin district court deleted text end judicial vacancy while they are members of the commission or for one
year following the end of their membership on the commission.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 480B.01, subdivision 8, is amended to read:

Subd. 8.

Candidate evaluation.

The commission shall evaluate the extent to which
candidates have the following qualifications for judicial office: integrity, maturity, health if
job related, judicial temperament, diligence, legal knowledge, ability and experience, and
community service. The commission shall give consideration to women and minorities.
new text begin For a district court vacancy, new text end the commission shall solicit, in writing, recommendations
from attorney associations in the judicial district and from organizations that represent
minority or women attorneys in the judicial district who have requested solicitation. new text begin For
other vacancies, recommendations must be solicited from statewide attorney associations
and from organizations that represent minority or women attorneys who have requested
solicitation.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 480B.01, subdivision 10, is amended to read:

Subd. 10.

Notice to the public.

Upon receiving notice from the governor that a
judicial vacancy has occurred or will occur on a specified date, the chair shall provide
notice of the following information:

(1) the office that is or will be vacant;

(2) that applications from qualified persons or on behalf of qualified persons are
being accepted by the commission;

(3) that application forms may be obtained from the governor or the commission
at a named address; and

(4) that application forms must be returned to the commission by a named date.

For a district court vacancy, the notice must be made available to attorney
associations in the judicial district where the vacancy has occurred or will occur and to at
least one newspaper of general circulation in each county in the district. For a deleted text begin Workers'
Compensation Court of Appeals deleted text end vacancy new text begin on the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, or
Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals new text end , the notice must be given to state attorney
associations and all forms of the public media.

Sec. 5. new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE.
new text end

new text begin Sections 1 to 4 are effective July 1, 2009, and apply to vacancies that occur on or
after that date.
new text end