The applications to the state’s Judicial Nominating Commission have been made public.
More than 200 people applied for the panel, which will play a part in selecting the state’s trial and appellate judges. The list includes entrepreneurs, bankers and academics as well as legal professionals.
The 17-member Nominating Commission replaces a smaller body, called the Judicial Selection Commission. While the majority must be lawyers, there is a push to make sure it includes people without a legal background, too. The Speakers of the State House and Senate each get to appoint eight members, then they have to agree on one, and that last member cannot be an attorney.
Among the fifty-two non-attorneys who’ve applied, most are business owners or executives. The list also includes the former editor and publisher of the Chattanooga Times, the chair of Bryan College’s Government and Politics department, and crime victims advocate.
The application itself is simple. There a few questions meant to suss out whether applicants are lawyers, have had run-ins with the law, or are lobbyists, and there’s room to explain why they think they should be appointed.
There’s also a choice of where send the application-to the House, the Senate, or both Speakers.
A public comment period on the applications runs through August 17th. Appointments will be made two weeks after that.
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