2-96 Judicial Selection Advisory Board—Establishment; membership; powers and duties; operating procedures.

A.    There is hereby created a Judicial Selection Advisory Board to be composed of the Chief Presiding Judge of the City Court, who shall serve as a nonvoting member, and seven voting members, consisting of the following: the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of Maricopa County or his designee; an appellate court judge to be appointed by the Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court; a member of the Maricopa County Bar Association who shall reside in the City of Phoenix and who shall be appointed by the Mayor from among three nominees recommended by the association’s board of directors; an active member of the State Bar of Arizona who shall reside in the City of Phoenix and who shall be appointed by the Mayor from among three nominees recommended by the State Bar’s Board of Governors; and three public members who are nominated by the Mayor and who are residents of the City of Phoenix. None of the public members shall be an employee of the City of Phoenix. Voting members shall be subject to approval by the City Council. Voting members shall serve a term of three years and shall be eligible for reappointment for one additional three-year term. The members shall serve without salary or compensation.

B.    The Board’s officers shall consist of a chairman and vice-chairman, each selected from the Board’s voting members. Officers shall serve one-year terms. No member shall serve more than two terms as chairman or two terms as vice-chairman, not including any term filled for the remainder of another member’s unexpired term. Upon expiration of the chairman’s first term or, if selected for a second term, upon expiration of the chairman’s second term, the vice-chairman automatically shall become the chairman. If upon expiration of the chairman’s first term, the chairman is selected by the voting members for a second term, the vice-chairman shall automatically continue in that office for a second term. A vacancy in the office of chairman caused other than by the expiration of a term shall be filled by the vice-chairman for the remainder of the unexpired term. The members shall determine operating procedures for the Board, which shall be kept in writing. The vice-chairman shall preside whenever the chairman is absent or unable to act. The chairman will have the duty to prepare written reports as may be requested by the City Council.

C.    The Board shall have the following powers and duties:

1.    To seek out and encourage qualified individuals to apply for the office of judge of the City Court.

2.    To conduct investigations into the background and qualifications of candidates for the office of judge of the City Court, including but not limited to the use of questionnaires, personal interviews, and contacting such individuals and institutions as it deems reasonable to obtain as much background information on the candidate as possible.

3.    To submit its recommendations for candidates for appointment or reappointment to the office of judge of the City Court or Chief Presiding Judge, without regard for race, religion, political affiliation or sex of the candidate, to the Mayor, who thereafter shall convene the City Council for the purpose of interviewing all candidates recommended.

D.    The meetings of the Board shall be held once each year for the purpose of reviewing operating procedures and on call of the chairman or a majority of the members. The chairman shall issue a call for a meeting promptly upon learning of the existence or anticipated existence of a vacancy in the office of judge of the City Court. The Board shall, whenever practical, hold public meetings designed to permit interested parties and groups to submit and recommend persons for consideration.

(Ord. No. G-3325, § 2; Ord. No. G-4010, § 1, passed 5-21-1997, eff. 6-21-1997)