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Judicial Selection: How California Chooses Its Judges and Justices

The California court system consists of the local superior courts in each of California’s 58 counties, the 6 districts of the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. Following is a summary of how judges and justices get to their positions on these courts.

Frequently Asked Question

How are justices of the Supreme Court selected?

One Chief Justice and 6 associate justices are appointed by the Governor, confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, and confirmed by the public at the next general election. A justice also comes before the voters at the end of his or her 12-year term. To be eligible for appointment, a person must have been a member of the State Bar of California or a judge of a court in this state for at least 10 years.

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Judicial Branch Governance | Judicial Council of California

Created by constitutional amendment, the council is the policymaking body for California’s state court system The 21 voting members include the Chief Justice, 14 judicial officers, 4 attorneys, and 1 member from each house of the Legislature The council also has advisory members who include judicial officers and court executives or administrators The council carries out much of its work through the hundreds of volunteers on its

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Supreme Court of California

Justices: 1 Chief Justice, 6 Associate Justices Filings: 4,944 in fiscal year 2023-24 52 written opinions in fiscal year 2023-24 More data points in the Court Statistics Report

News Release - June 15, 2020

California Supreme Court Amends Code of Judicial Ethics

The Supreme Court of California adopted a slate of changes to the California Code of Judicial Ethics, which include allowing judges to speak publicly about a pending case if they are criticized for a ruling during an election or recall campaign.