Virginia lawmakers left judgeships empty to save money. A freeze imposed by the General Assembly left 18 judgeships unfilled in the 2009-10 fiscal year, and as many as 50 could be vacant by June 30, 2012.
The freeze appeared in the budget conference report of the General Assembly’s 2010 session. For any judgeship that was vacant or became vacant from Feb. 15 through June 30, 2010, the budget reduced the total number of authorized judges in that judicial district or circuit, effective on the date each judge left the bench. Because the authorized number fell as each judge left, no vacancy remained for the General Assembly to fill. Language for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, ordered $750,000 in savings to revert to the general fund by that date.
The budget for the next two years extended the freeze to judges leaving the bench from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2012. The amendment projected savings of $3,980,151 the first year and $6,531,919 the second year “from deferring the replacement of vacant judgeships.”
In Virginia, judges were selected by legislative election, with circuit judges serving eight-year terms and district judges six-year terms. When the General Assembly was not in session, the governor could fill vacancies on the appellate and circuit courts, and those appointees still had to win election at the next session. The Supreme Court of Virginia advised lawmakers on whether circuit and appellate vacancies should be filled, and the Committee on District Courts advised on district vacancies, based primarily on caseload statistics.
Peter Hardin reported this story for Gavel Grab on May 3, 2010, when the site was a project of Justice at Stake. His original post is preserved by the Internet Archive. This account of the same events was written from the public record.
Join the discussion on r/ExistentialRepublic