Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commissions

What are the Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commissions?

The Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commissions are a newly established statewide network of independent screening panels for judicial candidates.

Under Part 150 of the Rules of the Chief Administrator of the Courts, a Commission in each judicial district "shall review the qualifications of candidates for public election to the Supreme Court, County Court, Surrogate’s Court, Family Court, New York City Civil Court, District Courts and City Courts" within its district. Each Commission has 15 members, named by the Chief Judge, the Presiding Justices, the New York State Bar Association, and local bar associations (see List of Appointees).

Appendix A to Part 150 provides the guidelines and procedures for the Commissions, including an overview of the information to be provided by each candidate.

Candidates will need to submit an original and 15 copies of the completed Questionnaire to the appropriate contact for review (please see the Instructions). The commissions are expected to commence receiving complete Questionnaires from candidates in each Appellate Department once a director has been appointed:

Candidates who are unsure of their Appellate Department and/or Judicial District may wish to consult www.nycourts.gov/courts/appellatebycounty.shtml for a list of Appellate Departments by county.

These Commissions are not intended to supplant or interfere with the work being conducted by bar association screening panels. Instead, they provide an independent assessment from a neutral Judiciary-sponsored body.

Please be sure to review the rules and procedures, and also the press release and list of appointees, to see if your questions are answered therein. Should you have further questions about evaluation of judicial candidates in the Fifth, Seventh or Eighth Judicial Districts, they should be directed to: Mary Gehl Doyle, Esq., Director of Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commissions,  50 East Avenue, Fifth floor, Rochester, N.Y. 14604, 585-530-3225.

• Commission Members

• Rules of the Chief Administrator

• Vacancies

• Fourth Department Instructions for completing questionnaire

• Unified Court System Instructions

• Questionnaire

• Release for Grievance Committees (Appendix "A")

• Release for Commission on Judicial Conduct (Appendix "B")

• Ratings of Commissions Fifth Judicial District

• Ratings of Commissions Seventh Judicial District

• Ratings of Commissions Eighth Judicial District

For more information refer to: http://www.ny-ijeqc.org

Please note:
In order to save data on the Questionnaire form, you must use Adobe Reader 8. The
upgrade is available at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. (If you use an
older version of Adobe Reader, you cannot save your typed-in data electronically,
although you can print out copies of the completed form for your records.)