78A-12-206 - Publication of the judicial performance evaluation.
78A-12-206. Publication of the judicial performance evaluation.
(1) (a) The commission shall compile a retention report of its judicial performanceevaluation of a judge.
(b) The report of a judicial performance evaluation nearest the judge's next scheduledretention election shall be provided to the judge at least 45 days before the last day on which thejudge may file a declaration of the judge's candidacy in the retention election.
(c) A report prepared in accordance with Subsection (1)(b) and information obtained inconnection with the evaluation become a public record under Title 63G, Chapter 2, GovernmentRecords Access and Management Act, on the day following the last day on which the judge whois the subject of the report may file a declaration of the judge's candidacy in the judge's scheduledretention election if the judge declares the judge's candidacy for the retention election.
(d) A report that is not public under Subsection (1)(c) is a protected record under Title63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act.
(2) A judge who is the subject of a retention report under this section, within 15 days ofreceiving a copy of the commission's report under Subsection (1)(b), may:
(a) provide a written response to the report; and
(b) request an interview with the commission for the purpose of addressing the report.
(3) (a) After receiving a response from a judge in any form allowed by Subsection (2),the commission may meet and reconsider its decision to recommend the judge not be retained.
(b) If the commission does not change its decision to recommend the judge not beretained, the judge may provide a written statement, not to exceed 100 words, that shall beincluded in the commission's report.
(4) The retention report of a judicial performance evaluation shall include:
(a) the results of the judicial performance survey, in both raw and summary form;
(b) information concerning the judge's compliance with the minimum performancestandards;
(c) information concerning any formal or informal discipline against a judge that is notsubject to restrictions on disclosure under Title 78A, Chapter 11, Judicial Conduct Commission;
(d) a narrative concerning the judge's performance;
(e) the commission's recommendation concerning whether the judge should be retained,or the statement required of the commission if it declines to make a recommendation;
(f) the number of votes for and against the commission's recommendation; and
(g) any other information the commission considers appropriate to include in the report.
(5) (a) The commission may not include in its retention report specific informationconcerning an earlier judicial performance evaluation.
(b) The commission may refer to information from an earlier judicial performanceevaluation concerning the judge in the commission's report only if the reference is in generalterms.
(6) The retention report of the commission's judicial performance evaluation shall bemade publicly available on an Internet website.
(7) The commission may make the report of the judicial performance evaluationimmediately preceding the judge's retention election publicly available through other meanswithin budgetary constraints.
(8) The commission shall provide a summary of the judicial performance evaluation foreach judge to the lieutenant governor for publication in the voter information pamphlet in the
manner required by Title 20A, Chapter 7, Issues Submitted to the Voters.
(9) The commission may also provide any information collected during the course of ajudge's judicial performance evaluation immediately preceding the judge's retention election tothe public to the extent that information is not otherwise subject to restrictions on disclosure.
(10) The commission shall provide the Judicial Council with:
(a) the judicial performance survey results for each judge; and
(b) a copy of the retention report of each judicial performance evaluation.
(11) The Judicial Council shall provide information obtained concerning a judge underSubsection (10) to the subject judge's presiding judge, if any.
Amended by Chapter 98, 2010 General Session