Applications are being accepted for the new Judicial Nominating Commission, a group of 17 people who will be in charge of recommending candidates to sit on Tennessee's appeals courts.
The commission, whose recommendations will go to the governor, is a byproduct of the Legislature's recent decision not the disturb the controversial process of selecting and retaining Tennessee's appellate judges.
Detractors say the process of choosing and retaining appellate judges, dubbed the Tennessee Plan, is unconstitutional since the state constitution technically calls for the election of such judges.
Although the Legislature ultimately voted in May to retain the plan, state lawmakers are hoping that the new judicial nominating commission will banish perceived influences by legal interest groups that existed with the similar Judicial Selection Commission, which ceased to exist June 30.
The new commission takes away the mandated appointments from the state bar association and other various attorney groups across the state.
"Essentially, 12 of the 17 members of the (old) commission came from these groups," said Administrative Office of the Courts spokeswoman Laura Click by e-mail.
The speakers of the state House and Senate each will appoint eight members to the new commission, and one nonlawyer will be appointed jointly. Only 10 of the 17 members must be attorneys, while the rest can be attorneys or people from other professions.
"The Judicial Nominating Commission plays an essential role in helping ensure that Tennessee has a fair, qualified, diverse and impartial judiciary," House Speaker Kent Williams, R-Elizabethton, said in a written statement. "It is important that the makeup of the commission also reflects those same qualities."
Applications are due July 31 and can be downloaded at www.tncourts.gov.
Those serving on the commission must be at least 30 years old and residents of Tennessee for at least five years.
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