Judicial Units, Boards, and Commissions

tion of the State Court Administrator as ex offi-
cio secretary of all nine nominating commissions,
with authority to activate any commission in the
event of an existing or foreseeable judicial vacan-
cy. This change was intended both to expedite
the filling of judicial vacancies and to provide
staff support for the nominating commissions. On
October 4, 1977, Acting Governor Lee issued an
Executive Order making some changes in Com-
mission procedures, but generally confirming the
1974 Order.

The 1977 Executive Order directs that certain
members of each Judicial Nominating Commis-
sion should be lawyers elected by fellow lawyers
of the State in an election conducted by the Ad-
ministrative Office of the Courts pursuant to rules
governing such elections promulgated by the
Court of Appeals. The other members of each Ju-
dicial Nominating Committee are lay members
appointed by the Governor from the general pub-
lic with a chairperson for each selection commis-
sion also appointed by the Governor who may be
either a lawyer or a lay member.

On June 8, 1979, Governor Harry Hughes is-
sued an Executive Order directing that judicial
vacancies may be filled by selecting a person from
a list previously submitted to fill a vacancy on
the same court within one calendar year of the
occurence and as long as the information on the
nominees is updated.

The Appellate Judicial Nominating Commis-
sion is composed of thirteen members from each
of the six Appellate Judicial Circuits. The six
elected members must be lawyers; the six lay
members are appointed. The chairperson, who
may be either a lawyer or lay member, is appoint-
ed from the State at large.

There are eight Trial Court Judicial Nominat-
ing Commissions, one for each of the eight Judi-
cial Circuits in the State. Each of the Trial Court
Commissions is composed of thirteen members,
six of whom are lawyers and six of whom are lay
members. Each of the six lawyer members is
elected from the particular Judicial Circuit in
which he maintains a principal office. The six
appointed lay members from each Judicial Circuit
must be residents and registered voters of that
circuit and there must be at least one representa-
tive from each county if the Judicial Circuit is
composed of more than one county. The chair-
person of each commission, appointed from the
Judicial Circuit in which he resides, must be a
registered voter and m»y be either a lawyer or lay
member.

Judiciary/'393

The terms of the members of the Appellate
Commission and the Trial Court Commissions
are for four years. The terms of the present mem-
bers expire in January 1983.

The function of the Appellate Nominating
Commission and the Trial Court Nominating
Commissions is to consider and pass upon the
qualifications of proposed judicial appointees and
to nominate to the governor those fully qualified
for vacant judicial offices to be filled by him on
the Court of Appeals, the Court of Special Ap-
peals, the County Circuit Courts, the Supreme
Bench of Baltimore City, and the District Court.
The Executive Order binds the governor to ap-
point from the list of nominees.

THE MARYLAND JUDICIAL
CONFERENCE

Chairperson: Robert C. Murphy, Chief Judge,
Court of Appeals

William H. Adkins II, Executive Secretary

Courts of Appeal Building
Annapolis 21401 Telephone: 269-2141

The Maryland Judicial Conference was infor-
mally organized in 1945. It was formally estab-
lished in 1969 when the Court of Appeals pro-
mulgated Maryland Rule 1226.

The Conference consists of all judges of the
Court of Appeals, Court of Special Appeals, the
Circuit Courts for the counties, the Supreme
Bench of Baltimore City, and the District Court.
The Administrative Office of the Courts serves as
secretariat for the Conference and all committees
appointed by it. The chief judge of the Court of
Appeals is chairperson of the Conference and ap-
points all committees except the Executive Com-
mittee, which is elected by the Conference.

The Conference meets annually in plenary ses-
sion. It conducts educational activities for the
judges and considers the status of judicial busi-
ness in various courts, devises means for relieving
congestion of dockets where it may be necessary,
considers improvements of practice and procedure
in the courts, considers and recommends legisla-
tion and exchanges ideas with respect to the im-
provement of the administration of justice and
the judicial system in Maryland.