H.4404 would prohibit General Assembly members from being elected to a judicial office for five years after leaving office. The bill would also prohibit family members of a General Assembly member (including: a spouse, child, parent, sibling, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, or any person who is domiciled for the previous six months or more with any of the above named relations of any member of the General Assembly) from being elected to judicial office until five years after the legislator has left office.
S.1082 would prohibit a General Assembly member’s spouse, child, parent, sibling, mother-in-law, or father-in-law from being elected to judicial until one year after the legislator has left office.
These bills would help to slightly diminish the possibility of nepotism in a system where the legislature both nominates and elects judges with no input from the Governor. True reform however, would mean following the Federal model, making judges appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.