Interim Appointment in the United States

Process by which state judicial vacancies are filled between elections. An interim appointment is made by the state’s governor and occurs only in states that use election as the formally adopted method of judicial selection. Interim appointments are highly partisan, although most governors take into account how prospective nominees are viewed by the legal profession. Judges appointed on an interim basis take office immediately upon appointment and possess full judicial power. In most states, however, these judges must face election either for a full term or the balance of the unexpired term at the next general election.

See Also

Executive Appointment (Judicial Personnel issue) Recess Appointment (Judicial Personnel issue).

Analysis and Relevance

The interim appointment seriously compromises elective selection of judges. It allows governors to appoint many (if not most) judges in a state and gives governors a dominant role injudicial selection. This is true for at least two reasons. First, the opportunity for governors to make interim appointments is high. Judicial terms tend to be lengthy, usually six or eight years. The longer the term, the greater the likelihood of vacancy. Second, once interim judges are appointed, they enjoy all the advantages of incumbency. Data show they tend to retain these judgeships when elections do take place. Indeed, most of the appointed judges are not even opposed in the first election. As a consequence, high proportions of judges in election states are likely to have first attained the bench by appointment and not election. For the twenty-two states that elect at least some of their judges, it is necessary to recognize the overlap of elective and appointive selection techniques. Interim appointments do not occur at the federal level.

Notes and References

1. Definition of Interim Appointment from the American Law Dictionary, 1991, California