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Bill would require random, geographically‑reasonable selection of substitute judges; court administration raises technical questions
Summary
SB41 would require random selection of substitute or disqualified judges while keeping replacements "reasonably close geographically." Court administrator and Chief Justice testified about software limitations and existing practices; the bill aims to reduce appearances of "buddy" selection but leaves technical implementation questions about geographic logic and specialized dockets.
Sen. Daniel Emmerich presented Senate Bill 41, proposing that substitute or disqualified judges be selected via a process that is random while ensuring the substitute judge is reasonably close geographically to the original judicial district. Emmerich said the change responds to inconsistent practices across districts and addresses concerns about "rotation" or informal arrangements that can give the impression of selective assignments.
Dave McAlpin, court administrator, testified as an informational witness that the court uses a national case‑management product (Full Court Enterprises) that randomly assigns judges within multijudge districts, but that when no judge within a district is available assignment gets human intervention. McAlpin and the Chief Justice said geographic logic and specialized dockets complicate implementing a purely random statewide system and that the branch has begun exploring geographic divisions (e.g., east/west) and use of retired judges or default statewide pools.
Committee members asked for clarity on definitions (what constitutes "reasonably close geographically"), software timing and technical notes, and how the bill would affect specialized dockets. The Chief Justice indicated the revised language ameliorates the original concern that "random" could mean pulling any judge from across the state and that reasonable regional limits make the proposal workable. The committee closed the hearing with no vote recorded; staff and the branch indicated further work will be needed to implement a geographic randomization function if the bill passes.
