Superior Court of Marin County, California

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Superior Court

Ballotpedia:Trial Courts

The Superior Court of Marin County is one of 58 Superior Courts in California.

Judges

Former judges

Judicial selection

The method of judicial selection for the California Superior Courts is officially nonpartisan election of judges, though many judges join the court via gubernatorial appointment. Once judges are appointed, they compete in the next general election following appointment.

If an incumbent Superior Court judge files for re-election and draws no opponent, that race does not appear on the ballot. If the race is contested, the candidate who wins more than 50% of the vote is elected. If no candidate receives more than 50%, the top two compete in a runoff in the general election in November.[1]

Budget gap

The Marin County Superior Court had a budget gap of approximately $2 million in 2010. The court laid off six employees (four court reporters, a research attorney and an information technology specialist) in February 2010 in an effort to close the gap. The court also began closinga one day per month, like the rest of the state's superior courts, in a cost saving effort.[2]

See also

External links


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Elections

See also: California judicial elections

California is one of 43 states that hold elections for judicial positions. To learn more about judicial selection in California, click here.

Selection method

See also: Nonpartisan election

The 1,535 judges of the California Superior Courts compete in nonpartisan races in even-numbered years. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the June primary election, he or she is declared the winner; if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two candidates is held during the November general election.[3][4][5][6]

If an incumbent judge is running unopposed in an election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot. The judge is automatically re-elected following the general election.[3]

The chief judge of any given superior court is selected by peer vote of the court's members. He or she serves in that capacity for one or two years, depending on the county.[3]

Qualifications
Candidates are required to have 10 years of experience as a law practitioner or as a judge of a court of record.[3]

Election rules

Primary election

Only candidates for the superior courts compete in primary elections.

  • If a superior court judge runs unopposed for re-election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot and he or she is automatically re-elected following the general election.[7][8]
  • Write-in candidates may file to run against an incumbent within 10 days after the filing deadline passes if they are able to secure enough signatures (between 100 and 600, depending on the number of registered voters in the county). In that case, the incumbent would appear on the general election ballot along with an option to vote for a write-in candidate.[8]
  • In contested races, the candidate who receives a majority of all the votes in the primary wins the election. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the primary, the top two compete in the November general election.[9]

General election

  • Superior court candidates who advance from the primary election compete in the general election.
  • Superior court incumbents facing competition from write-in candidates appear on the ballot.[8][9]


Footnotes

  1. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Safeguarding California's judicial election process," August 21, 2011
  2. ↑ Contra Costa Times "Layoffs hit Marin Superior Court," February 22, 2010
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: California," archived October 2, 2014
  4. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Safeguarding California's judicial election process," August 21, 2011
  5. ↑ California Elections Code, "Section 8203," accessed May 21, 2014
  6. ↑ California Elections Code, "Section 8140-8150," accessed May 21, 2014
  7. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Safeguarding California's judicial election process," August 21, 2011
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 California Elections Code, "Section 8203," accessed April 22, 2014
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 California Elections Code, "Section 8140-8150," accessed April 22, 2014
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