REPORT TITLE:
Judicial Selection Commission


DESCRIPTION:
Proposes an amendment to Article VI, Section 4, of the Hawaii
Constitution, relating to the powers and duties of the Judicial
Selection Commission.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2981
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE VI, SECTION 4, OF THE HAWAII
   CONSTITUTION, TO CHANGE THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE
   JUDICIAL SELECTION COMMISSION.


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

 1      SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to propose an
 
 2 amendment to Article VI, section 4, of the Constitution of the
 
 3 State of Hawaii to give the judicial selection commission the
 
 4 power and the duty to conduct and enforce judicial evaluations.
 
 5      SECTION 2.  Article VI, section 4, of the Constitution of
 
 6 the State of Hawaii is amended to read as follows:
 
 7                  "JUDICIAL SELECTION COMMISSION
 
 8      Section 4.  There shall be a judicial selection commission
 
 9 that shall consist of nine members.  The governor shall appoint
 
10 two members to the commission.  No more than one of the two
 
11 members shall be a licensed attorney.  The president of the
 
12 senate and the speaker of the house of representatives shall each
 
13 respectively appoint two members to the commission.  The chief
 
14 justice of the supreme court shall appoint one member to the
 
15 commission.  Members in good standing of the bar of the State
 
16 shall elect two of their number to the commission in an election
 
17 conducted by the supreme court or its delegate.  No more than
 
18 four members of the commission shall be licensed attorneys.  At
 
19 all times, at least one member of the commission shall be a
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 resident of a county other than the City and County of Honolulu.
 
 2      The commission shall be selected and shall operate in a
 
 3 wholly nonpartisan manner.  After the initial formation of the
 
 4 commission, elections and appointments to the commission shall be
 
 5 for staggered terms of six years each.  Notwithstanding the
 
 6 foregoing, no member of the commission shall serve for more than
 
 7 six years on the commission.
 
 8      Each member of the judicial selection commission shall be a
 
 9 resident of the State and a citizen of the United States.  No
 
10 member shall run for or hold any other elected office under the
 
11 United States, the State or its political subdivisions.  No
 
12 member shall take an active part in political management or in
 
13 political campaigns.  No member shall be eligible for appointment
 
14 to the judicial office of the State so long as the person is a
 
15 member of the judicial commission and for a period of three years
 
16 thereafter.
 
17      No act of the judicial selection commission shall be valid
 
18 except by concurrence of the majority of its voting members.
 
19      The judicial selection commission shall select one of its
 
20 members to serve as chairperson.  The commission shall adopt
 
21 rules which shall have the force and effect of law.  The
 
22 deliberations of the commission shall be confidential.  However,
 
23 the commission may make public its evaluations of the performance
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 of justices and judges and its recommendations.
 
 2      The judicial selection commission shall conduct periodic
 
 3 evaluations to review the performance of justices and judges of
 
 4 all state courts.  The judicial selection commission may
 
 5 recommend to the governor that a justice or judge be removed from
 
 6 the office of the chief justice, supreme court, intermediate
 
 7 appellate court and circuit courts, and the governor, with the
 
 8 consent of the senate, may remove a justice or judge recommended
 
 9 for removal by the judicial selection commission.  The judicial
 
10 selection commission may recommend to the chief justice that a
 
11 judge be removed from the district courts, and the chief justice,
 
12 with the consent of the senate, may remove a judge recommended
 
13 for removal by the judicial selection commission.
 
14      The legislature shall provide for the staff and operating
 
15 expenses of the judicial selection commission in a separate
 
16 budget.  No member of the judicial selection commission shall
 
17 receive any compensation for commission services, but shall be
 
18 allowed necessary expenses for travel, board and lodging incurred
 
19 in the performance of commission duties.
 
20      The judicial selection commission shall be attached to the
 
21 judiciary branch of the state government for purposes of
 
22 administration."
 
23      SECTION 3.  The question to be printed on the ballot shall
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 be as follows:
 
 2           "Shall the judicial selection commission be given the
 
 3           power and duty to evaluate sitting judges and, in its
 
 4           discretion, recommend to the governor or chief justice
 
 5           that a sitting judge be removed?"
 
 6      SECTION 4.  Constitutional material to be repealed is
 
 7 bracketed.  New constitutional material is underscored.
 
 8      SECTION 5.  This amendment shall take effect upon compliance
 
 9 with article XVII, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of
 
10 Hawaii.
 
11 
 
12                       INTRODUCED BY:  ___________________________