Merit Selection of Judges
Merit selection is a system whereby Utah sets up bipartisan nominating commissions in all the judicial districts in the state. These commissions include lawyers as well as citizens. When a judicial vacancy occurs, applicants submit their applications to the appropriate nominating commission. The commission then reviews the applications, conducts interviews with the applicants, and assesses the qualifications of each.
The commission creates a list of names of those they feel are most qualified for the job. This list is given to the governor, who chooses one of the people on the list and appoints that person to the judgeship.
The appointee must then appear before the Senate for confirmation. After serving an initial term of office, the judge is regularly placed on the ballot for a "retention election," and citizens get to decide whether or not they will retain that person as a judge.
Retention elections provide a mechanism whereby those judges who are failing to live up to their responsibilities to the citizens can be removed from the bench. Unlike popular elections or appointment, merit selection seeks to balance judicial independence (by removing - as much as possible - direct political control over judges) with public accountability (by allowing citizens to decide whether the judge is retained in office).