Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 545 - Judicial Nominating Commission › Chapter 10 - General Provisions › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 1 - Uniform Rules of Procedures (545-RICR-10-00-1) › Section 545-RICR-10-00-1.5 - Final Selection of Nominees

Current through June 14, 2024
A. By majority vote
				 in public session, the Commission shall select no fewer than three (3) nor
				 greater than five (5) highly qualified persons to fill each judicial vacancy
				 from the list of those persons interviewed who meet the requirements of the
				 Rhode Island Constitution, the Statute, these Rules, and all other legal
				 requirements for the judicial office. Said vote shall be held in public
				 session, provided however, that the Commission may adjourn in closed session
				 prior to or during said public session to deliberate upon said applicants. Any
				 such closed session shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of the Open
				 Meetings Act, R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 42-46 and R.I. Gen. Laws §
										42-46-4.
1. The voting procedure shall be as follows:
a. Each Commissioner shall have up to five
				 (5) affirmative votes and shall only be allowed to cast one vote per applicant.
				 A recusal shall not count as one of the allotted votes.
b. Initially, the Commissioners shall vote on
				 all applicants who have been interviewed. The voting shall be completed after
				 the first round if no fewer than three and no greater than five candidates
				 receive at least five (5) votes.
c.
				 If more than five applicants receive a total of five (5) or more votes in the
				 first round, then the five candidates who received the most votes shall
				 constitute the list of nominees to be submitted to the Governor and the voting
				 shall be concluded.
d. However, if
				 a list of five candidates with the most votes cannot be ascertained due to a
				 tie vote, then a second round of voting shall be required. Excluded from this
				 second round of voting shall be all candidates who received fewer than five
				 votes cast on the previous vote. Also excluded from this list shall be any
				 applicant who received a number of votes greater than the tied candidates. The
				 names of the applicants who received a number of votes greater than the tied
				 candidates shall be included on the list of nominees to be submitted to the
				 Governor.
e. For the second and
				 subsequent rounds of voting, each Commissioner shall be allotted the same
				 number of votes as there are positions to fill in such run-off vote and the
				 applicant/interviewee(s) with the most votes shall be the remaining nominee(s).
				 A recusal shall not count as one of the allotted votes.
f. This voting procedure shall be repeated
				 until a list of nominees is completed for submission to the Governor.
g. In the event that after the initial vote,
				 fewer than three applicants receive a minimum of five votes, then the initial
				 vote shall be considered to be a preliminary vote for the purpose of choosing
				 the ten or more (in case of a tie) applicants with the most votes after such
				 preliminary vote. Thereafter, the procedure set forth above shall apply to all
				 subsequent votes.
h. The names of
				 the nominees selected by the Commission shall be submitted to the Governor in
				 alphabetical order along with a copy of all investigative information and
				 documents relative to each nominee.