Proposals re-emerge to move judicial appointments from governor to legislature

Unexpired terms for District Court and special Superior Court judges would be filled by the General Assembly under these bills.

Posted 10:14 p.m. Apr 27, 2018 — Updated 4:15 a.m. Apr 28, 2018

Travis Fain

, WRAL statehouse reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — Republican lawmakers dusted off proposals Friday to move judicial appointment powers from Gov. Roy Cooper to the General Assembly, bringing a pair of bills that passed the House last year before an off-session committee studying judicial redistricting.

The measures – House Bill 240 and House Bill 241 – would have the legislature replace District Court judges and special Superior Court judges when vacancies open on the bench. Currently, the governor fills District Court seats by appointment and the state's special Superior Court judges by appointments that the General Assembly confirms.

Both bills would essentially remove the governor from those processes, letting the General Assembly fill terms when judges leave before their terms are up. Supporters said the process would be more transparent, with public comment and debate before a legislative committee before a judge is named. Gubernatorial appointments are made in secret, "behind the iron fence of the governor's mansion," state Rep. Justin Burr, R-Stanly, said Friday.

The District Court judge bill would let the speaker of the house and president pro tem of the Senate name judges, though, when a vacancy occurs and the legislature is not in session.

Local bar associations would nominate potential appointees, much as they do now. But the General Assembly wouldn't be beholden to that list, just as the governor isn't beholden to it now. House Minority Leader Darren Jackson pointed out Friday that governors used to have to choose new judges from the bar's list.

Jackson, D-Wake, said the GOP-controlled legislature changed that soon after Gov. Pat McCrory won the governor's mansion, the first Republican to do so in 18 years.

It's unclear whether there's enough support for these proposals in the state Senate to move them forward when the legislature convenes for its short session May 16. Both passed the House last year on largely party-line votes, with one Democrat – he has since become a Republican – voting yes and a handful of Republicans voting no.

Republican members have floated a number of potential judicial reforms over the last year, with Burr leading the charge to redraw the districts from which judges are elected. There are other proposals to move to an appointments system, not just for vacancies, but for all judicial offices. But that would take a constitutional change and, thus, a statewide referendum.

GOP leaders voted to cancel this year's judicial primaries as they discussed potential reforms, triggering an as-yet-unresolved lawsuit from the state Democratic Party.

Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to rig the state judiciary and say maps Burr has proposed would favor Republican judicial candidates. Burr and other supporters point to unbalanced districts in Mecklenburg County and other areas, saying district lines that have been in place for decades are out of date and unfair.

A joint House-Senate committee was appointed to mull these issues off-session, and members of that committee said Friday that they weren't sure what will happen after the full General Assembly comes back to town.

The select committee won't meet again until then, Co-chairman Sen. Warren Daniel, R-Burke, said Friday.

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