Governor Bill Haslam has appointed an ad-hoc committee to nominate candidates for the state’s court system.
The Tennessee General Assembly decided to let the state judicial nominating commission die at the end of June. But Tennessee voters won’t decide how to proceed until November 2014, creating uncertainty in the legal community over how the state would pick new judges to replace those who step down or die in office.
Governor Haslam says his decision to create a temporary committee is necessary to keep the state’s judiciary alive. The 17-person temporary panel will include 11 members of the old one.