MY TURN: Choosing judges for Kootenai County
Art Macomber
On May 16, the First Judicial Magistrate Commission will meet to consider 12 candidates for two magistrate judge positions. Who are the candidates? What types of judges should we require for the First District, which includes Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai, Shoshone and Benewah counties?
Idaho Code section 1-2205(1)(b) states a Magistrate Commission is to appoint new magistrate judges “on a nonpartisan merit basis.” That same section cautions that magistrate appointments are “subject to disapproval by a majority of the district judges in the district within thirty (30) days” after the appointments. The adjective nonpartisan is a political one, but what does a “merit basis” mean?
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