of what judges do during a typical day or week is something other than presiding at trials—reading case 
files, conducting hearings, accepting guilty pleas, pronouncing sentences, and managing court dockets.” 
2 
The role played by the judge, in other words, is both less influential and more varied than the traditional 
view would have people believe. 
Trial Judge Selection and Qualifications 
The sole qualification to be a judge in most jurisdictions is graduating from a law school and 
membership in the state’s bar association. Although the trend is for judges to be lawyers prior,  a few 
jurisdictions do not require justices of the peace or municipal judges to be attorneys. 
States procedures in selecting judges vary tremendously.  “Almost no two states are alike and many 
states employ different methods of selection depending on the different levels of the judiciary creating 
‘hybrid’ systems of selection” 
3. Nevertheless, the primary differences surround whether judges are 
elected or appointed, or selected based on merit. There are four primary methods used to select judges 
in the United States: appointment, with or without confirmation by another agency; partisan political 
election; non-partisan election; and a combination of nomination by a commission, appointment and 
periodic reelection (the Missouri Plan). 
There are variations within these four primary methods. As noted above, states may use different 
methods to select judges based on the level in the judicial hierarchy. For example, municipal judges 
may be appointed, while supreme court judges are elected. Each selection method has its critics 
and advocates, and the relative merits of each are generally judged by the selection methods ability 
to achieve judicial independence and accountability. Notwithstanding the critiques of each of the 
methods, there has been little empirical evidence that the quality of judges, in terms of competency, 
effectiveness, or honesty, varies depending on the methods used to select the judge. 
4 
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The length of time a judge will “sit”, called a term in office or tenure, varies greatly, generally from 
four to sixteen years. Frequently, the term for a trial judge is less than a term for an appellate judge. At 
the appellate level, six years is the shortest term, and many states use terms of ten years or more for their 
appellate judges.  Only a few states have lifetime tenure for their judges. 
In the federal system, the President appoints Article III judges (U.S. District Court, U.S. Circuit 
Court, and U.S. Supreme Court judges) with the advice and consent of the Senate. In Article III, U.S. 
Constitution states that federal judges are appointed to “hold their Offices during Good Behavior.”  On 
2. Spohn, C. & Hemmens, C. (2012) Courts: A Text/Reader (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. 
3. Berkson, L.C. (2005). Judicial selection in the United States: A special report.  In E.E. Slotnick (Ed.) Judicial Politics: Readings from 
Judicature (3d ed., pp. 50). Washington, DC: CQ Press 
4. Atkins B.M. & Glick, H.R. (1974). Formal judicial recruitment and state supreme court decisions. American Politics Quarterly, 2, 427-449 
5. Dubois, P.L. (1986), Accountability, independence, and the selection of state judges: The role of popular judicial elections. Southwestern 
Law Journal, 40, 31-52 
6. Nagel, S. (1975). Improving the legal process. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books. 
ALISON S. BURKE, DAVID CARTER, BRIAN FEDOREK, TIFFANY MOREY, LORE RUTZ-BURRI, AND SHANELL
SANCHEZ
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