Rule 7 - Screening of Applications and Selection of Applicants for Interviewsa. Public Notice and Comment: Names of applicants and the date, place and time of the Commission meeting to screen applications shall be widely disseminated to the public. Comments about applicants should be made, if feasible, at least three (3) working days before the screening meeting as follows: (1) in writing to the Judicial Nominating Commission for distribution by staff to the Commission, or (2) verbally or by written or electronic means to the Commissioners.b. Investigation of Applicants: As soon as Commissioners receive applications and documents on file, they may begin investigating the background and qualifications of applicants. Using the application as a starting point, Commissioners may contact as many of the individuals and institutions knowledgeable about the applicant as deemed beneficial. Commissioners shall encourage sources to allow their names to be disclosed to the commission, the applicant and the public but may accept comments about an applicant from a source that requests confidentiality as to the other Commissioners, the applicant, and/or the public, if the Commissioner believes it is in the public's best interest to accept such comments. When a source provides a negative opinion about an applicant's character, fitness, or competency, the commissioner shall ask the source to provide a detailed factual basis for that opinion. The Commissioner shall also ask for the names and contact information of others who might have knowledge about the opinion. The Commissioner shall contact any individuals identified to ask about the applicant's character, fitness or competency.
c. Screening Meeting1.General: The Commission shall meet to decide which applicants to interview. Each Commissioner shall disclose comments and other information relied upon to evaluate each applicant. If confidentiality has been promised to a source, commissioners should consider whether less weight should be given to that source's information. The Commission may hold an executive session upon a majority vote of Commissioners in attendance to promote open and frank discussion of applicant qualifications. The substance of deliberations in executive session shall not be disclosed.2.Public Comment: Members of the public are invited to briefly comment orally at the screening meeting. The Chair shall allocate equal time at the screening meeting for relevant comment on each applicant. The Chair may terminate comments which exceed the time allocated or which are irrelevant to the qualifications of applicants. The Chair may also limit duplicative comments regarding an applicant. Applicants are encouraged to invite no more than two (2) speakers to comment on their behalf. Applicants are asked to limit solicited reference letters to a maximum of twelve (12) from a diverse group of people who are well-acquainted with the applicant.3.Opinion Comments: Negative opinions that are not supported with a factual basis, or a second source shall not be disclosed at the Commission meeting. If disclosed, the supporting information must also be disclosed.4.Anonymous Comments: Information from an anonymous source shall not be considered by any Commissioner or shared with any other Commissioner or the Commission at any point in the screening process.5.Selection of Applicants for Interviews: The Chair shall invite Commissioners to nominate applicants to be placed on a tentative list of those to be interviewed. Such a nomination requires the concurrence of one additional Commissioner. The name of each applicant who receives a vote of the majority of Commissioners voting shall be placed on a tentative list. Following this procedure with or without an additional executive session or sessions, the tentative list of interviewees may be added to or subtracted from by public vote until a final list of applicants to be interviewed is determined. The Commission may vary these procedures at its discretion.Unif. R. Proc. Commi. App. & Tri. Ct. 7
Added on an expedited basis 12/14/2016, effective 12/14/2016. Added on a permanent basis4/27/2017, effective4/27/2017.HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES
Former Rule 7, relating to application, was abrogated on an expedited basis effective Dec. 14, 2016. See, now, Rule 6.