SC0091 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB096 18058 RCE 33432 e

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
SC0091

Introduced 2/10/2010, by Sen. Jeffrey M. Schoenberg

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 8

ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 10

ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 11

ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 12

ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 12.5 new

Proposes to amend the Illinois Constitution to repeal provisions concerning the office of Associate Judge. Provides that Associate Judges in office on the effective date of this amendment assume the office of Circuit Judge on that date. Deletes provisions for election of Appellate and Circuit Judges and provides for their appointment by the Supreme Court. Provides for Judicial Nominating Commissions to nominate persons for appointment as Appellate and Circuit Judges. Makes other changes. Effective upon being declared adopted.

A BILL FOR

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the State for adoption or rejection at the general election next occurring at least 6 months after the adoption of this resolution a proposition to repeal Section 8 of Article VI, amend Sections 10, 11, and 12 of Article VI, and add Section 12.5 to Article VI of the Illinois Constitution as follows:

ARTICLE VI

THE JUDICIARY

(ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 8)

SECTION 8. ASSOCIATE JUDGES

(Repealed). Each Circuit Court shall have such number of Associate Judges as provided by law. Associate Judges shall be appointed by the Circuit Judges in each circuit as the Supreme Court shall provide by rule. In the First Judicial District, unless otherwise provided by law, at least one-fourth of the Associate Judges shall be appointed from, and reside, outside Chicago. The Supreme Court shall provide by rule for matters to be assigned to Associate Judges.

(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

(ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 10)

SECTION 10. TERMS OF OFFICE

The terms of office of Supreme and Appellate Court Judges shall be ten years; and of Circuit Judges, six years; and of Associate Judges, four years.

(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

(ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 11)

SECTION 11. ELIGIBILITY FOR OFFICE

No person shall be eligible to be a Judge or Associate Judge unless he or she is a United States citizen, a licensed attorney-at-law of this State, and a resident of the district or circuit unit which selects him or her. No change in the boundaries of a unit shall affect the tenure in office of a Judge or Associate Judge incumbent at the time of such change.

(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

(ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 12)

SECTION 12. ELECTION AND RETENTION

(a) Supreme Court , Appellate and Circuit Judges shall be nominated at primary elections or by petition and . Judges shall be elected at general or judicial elections as the General Assembly shall provide by law. A person eligible for the office of Judge may cause his or her name to appear on the ballot as a candidate for Judge at the primary and at the general or judicial elections by submitting petitions. The General Assembly shall prescribe by law the requirements for petitions.

(a-5) Appellate and Circuit Judges shall be appointed by the Supreme Court from nominees submitted by Judicial Nominating Commissions in accordance with subsection (c-5) of this Section.

(b) The office of a Judge shall be vacant upon his or her death, resignation, retirement, removal, or upon the conclusion of his or her term without retention in office. Whenever an additional Appellate or Circuit Judge is authorized by law, the office shall be filled in the manner provided for filling a vacancy in that office.

(c) A vacancy occurring in the office of Supreme Court , Appellate or Circuit Judge shall be filled as the General Assembly may provide by law. In the absence of a law, vacancies may be filled by appointment by the Supreme Court. A person appointed to fill a vacancy 60 or more days prior to the next primary election to nominate Supreme Court Judges shall serve until the vacancy is filled for a term at the next general or judicial election. A person appointed to fill a vacancy less than 60 days prior to the next primary election to nominate Judges shall serve until the vacancy is filled at the second general or judicial election following such appointment.

(c-5) As soon as a vacancy occurs in the office of Appellate or Circuit Judge, or if such a vacancy will occur within six months by a day certain, the Administrative Director of the Illinois Courts shall promptly notify the chairperson of the appropriate Judicial Nominating Commission, who shall immediately convene the Commission and give notice to the public.

Within sixty days after receiving the notice of a vacancy, the Judicial Nominating Commission shall submit to the Supreme Court a list of three nominees who, by their character, background, temperament, professional aptitude, experience, and commitment to justice are deemed by the Commission to be best qualified to fill the vacancy. The Commission shall also give due consideration to diversity of representation on the bench. The Commission shall submit the nominees' names in alphabetical order. The selection of Judges for appointment by the Supreme Court shall be from among those persons best qualified to hold judicial office in this State. All such qualified persons have the right to be considered for selection by a Judicial Nominating Commission free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, national ancestry, or sex. The Commission may not include on a list a nominee who is on another list then pending before the Supreme Court. The function of a list of nominees shall terminate upon the making of the required appointment from the list.

Immediately upon receiving a list of nominees from a Judicial Nominating Commission, the Supreme Court shall make the list public. Not fewer than twenty-eight nor more than fifty-six days after receiving a list, the Supreme Court shall appoint from the list a person to fill the vacancy. If the Supreme Court does not make an appointment within fifty-six days, the Commission shall immediately submit the list to the Governor, who shall make the appointment from the list within twenty-eight days after receiving the list.

A person appointed to fill a vacancy pursuant to this subsection shall serve an initial term equal to the term specified in Section 10 of this Article.

(d) Not less than six months before the general election preceding the expiration of his or her term of office, a Supreme, Appellate or Circuit Judge who has been elected or appointed to that office may file in the office of the Secretary of State a declaration of candidacy to succeed himself or herself. The Secretary of State, not less than 63 days before the election, shall certify the Judge's candidacy to the proper election officials. The names of Judges seeking retention shall be submitted to the electors, separately and without party designation, on the sole question whether each Judge shall be retained in office for another term. The retention elections shall be conducted at general elections in the appropriate Judicial District, for Supreme and Appellate Judges, and in the circuit for Circuit Judges. The affirmative vote of 50% three-fifths of the electors voting on the question shall elect the Judge to the office for a term commencing on the first Monday in December following his or her election for retention.

(e) A law reducing the number of Appellate or Circuit Judges shall be without prejudice to the right of the Judges affected to seek retention in office. A reduction shall become effective when a vacancy occurs in the affected unit.

(f) The office of Associate Judge is abolished, and all Associate Judges in office on the effective date of this amendment shall on that date assume the office of Circuit Judge. In order to end the terms of those Judges, the Administrative Director of the Illinois Courts, as soon as possible after the effective date of this amendment, shall by lot divide those Judges into three groups that are as equal in number as possible. The terms of the Judges in the first group shall end on the first Monday in December after the next general election following the adoption of this amendment and every six years thereafter. The terms of the Judges in the second group shall end on the first Monday in December after the second general election following the adoption of this amendment and every six years thereafter. The terms of the Judges in the third group shall expire on the first Monday in December after the third general election following the adoption of this amendment and every six years thereafter.

The Judges described in this subsection may be retained in the same manner as other Circuit Judges.

(Source: Illinois Constitution.)

(ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 12.5 new) SECTION 12.5. JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSIONS

(a) There shall be a Judicial Nominating Commission in each Judicial District for the nomination of Judges for the Appellate Court of that District, in each Judicial Subcircuit for the nomination of Circuit Judges from that Subcircuit, and in each Judicial Circuit for the nomination of all other Circuit Judges from that Circuit.

(b) Each Judicial Nominating Commission shall consist of eleven members. Six of the members must be persons who are not licensed to practice as an attorney or counselor at law within this State and are residents of the appropriate District, Circuit, or Subcircuit ("non-lawyer members"). The remaining five members must be persons who are licensed to practice as an attorney or counselor at law within this State and are residents of the appropriate District or Circuit ("lawyer members").

(c) Three of the non-lawyer members of each Judicial Nominating Commission shall be appointed by the Attorney General. The remaining three non-lawyer members shall be appointed by the officer first in the following order who is not affiliated with the same political party as the Attorney General: the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Minority Leader of the Senate.

(d) The lawyer members of each Judicial Nominating Commission shall be selected in the manner provided by Supreme Court Rule.

(e) Upon appointment of the initial non-lawyer members of each Judicial Nominating Commission, the Attorney General shall divide the appointees by lot into three groups as equal in number as possible, with one of the Attorney General's appointees in each group. The Attorney General shall by lot designate the members in those groups to serve initial terms of two, four, and six years respectively. The initial lawyer members of each Judicial Nominating Commission shall also be divided by lot into three groups as equal in number as possible, and the members in those groups shall by lot be designated to serve initial terms of two, four, and six years respectively, all in the manner provided by Supreme Court Rule. Thereafter, the terms of all Commission members shall be six years.

(f) A vacancy in the non-lawyer membership of a Judicial Nominating Commission shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term or for a full term, as the case may be, by the Attorney General (if the Attorney General is affiliated with the same political party as the official who appointed the member whose vacancy is to be filled) or by the other officer specified in subsection (c) of this Section (if the Attorney General is affiliated with a political party different from that of the official who appointed the member whose vacancy is to be filled). A vacancy at the end of a term in the lawyer membership of a Judicial Nominating Commission shall be filled in the manner provided by Supreme Court Rule.

(g) The members of each Judicial Nominating Commission shall select a Chairperson of the Commission. The Chairperson shall serve for a term of three years unless his or her remaining term as a member of the Commission expires sooner.

(h) A person is not eligible to serve on a Judicial Nominating Commission if he or she (i) holds any office under the United States or this State, or any political subdivision, municipal corporation, municipality, or unit of local government of this State, and receives compensation for services rendered in that office or (ii) holds any office or official position in a political party. Compensation for service in the State militia or the armed services of the United States, for the period of time determined by Supreme Court Rule, does not disqualify a person from serving on a Judicial Nominating Commission under this subsection. A member of a Judicial Nominating Commission may not be appointed to judicial office while serving on the Commission or for a period of six months thereafter.

(i) A person who has served a full term of six years as a member of a Judicial Nominating Commission may not serve on a Commission during the next three years following expiration of that six-year term. A person may not serve on more than one Judicial Nominating Commission at the same time.

(j) A Judicial Nominating Commission may conduct investigations, meetings, and hearings, all of which may be secret, and may employ staff members as necessary to perform the Commission's duties. Judicial Nominating Commission members may not receive any compensation for their services on the Commission but shall be reimbursed for their necessary expenses actually incurred in performing their duties. The General Assembly shall appropriate funds to the Supreme Court for that reimbursement and for all other administrative expenses of the Judicial Nominating Commissions.

(k) A Judicial Nominating Commission shall submit nominees for the office of Appellate or Circuit Judge to the Supreme Court upon the concurrence of not less than three-fifths of the members of the Commission voting on the nominations.

(l) Lawyer and non-lawyer members of Judicial Nominating Commissions are not subject to economic disclosure requirements as provided by law.

SCHEDULE

This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois Constitutional Amendment Act.