Assembly
Joint Resolution No. 13 of the 70th Session–
Committee on Constitutional Amendments
ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION—Proposing to amend the Constitution of the State of Nevada to revise the term of office of a justice of the supreme court or judge of a district court who is appointed to fill a vacancy.
Resolved by the Assembly and Senate of the State of Nevada,
Jointly, That section 20 of article 6 of the Constitution of the State of
Nevada be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 20. 1. When a vacancy occurs before the expiration of any term
of office in the supreme court or among the district judges, the governor
shall appoint a justice or judge from among three nominees selected for
such individual vacancy by the commission on judicial selection.
[2. The] Except as
otherwise provided in subsection 2, the term of
office of any justice or judge so appointed expires on the first Monday of
January
following the [next] first general
election [.] that is
held at least
12 calendar months after the date on which the appointment was made.
At that general election, a justice or judge must be elected to fill the
remainder of the term.
2. If the date on which the appointment was made is within the 12
calendar months immediately preceding the expiration of the term of the
vacated office, the term of office of the justice or judge appointed
pursuant to subsection 1 is the remainder of the unexpired term of
office.
3. Each nomination for the supreme court shall be made by the
permanent commission, composed of:
(a) The chief justice or an associate justice designated by him;
(b) Three members of the State Bar of Nevada, a public corporation
created by statute, appointed by its board of governors; and
(c) Three persons, not members of the legal profession, appointed by the
governor.
4. Each nomination for the district court shall be made by a temporary
commission composed of:
(a) The permanent commission;
(b) A member of the State Bar of Nevada resident in the judicial district
in which the vacancy occurs, appointed by the board of governors of the
State Bar of Nevada; and
(c) A resident of such judicial district, not a member of the legal
profession, appointed by the governor.
5. If at any time the State Bar of Nevada ceases to exist as a public
corporation or ceases to include all attorneys admitted to practice before
the courts of this state, the legislature shall provide by law, or if it fails to
do so the court shall provide by rule, for the appointment of attorneys at
law to the positions designated in this section to be occupied by members
of the State Bar of Nevada.
6. The term of office of each appointive member of the permanent
commission, except the first members, is 4 years. Each appointing
authority shall appoint one of the members first appointed for a term of 2
years. If a vacancy occurs, the appointing authority shall fill the vacancy
for the unexpired term. The additional members of a temporary
commission shall
be appointed when a vacancy occurs, and their terms shall expire when the
nominations for such vacancy have been transmitted to the governor.
7. An appointing authority shall not appoint to the permanent
commission more than:
(a) One resident of any county.
(b) Two members of the same political party.
No member of the permanent commission may be a member of a
commission on judicial discipline.
8. After the expiration of 30 days from the date on which the
commission on judicial selection has delivered to him its list of nominees
for any vacancy, if the governor has not made the appointment required by
this section, he shall make no other appointment to any public office until
he has appointed a justice or judge from the list submitted.
If a commission on judicial selection is established by another section of
this constitution to nominate persons to fill vacancies on the supreme
court, such commission shall serve as the permanent commission
established by subsection 3 of this section.
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