Arizonans have the upcoming opportunity to squarely weigh in on the performance of their justices and judges before the 2026 general election ballots are cast. The Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review will be holding a public hearing on October 24, as was announced in a recent press release. The session is set to take place in Phoenix immediately following a 9:30 a.m. business meeting at the State Courts Building, Room 101, located at 1501 W. Washington Street.
For those unable to attend in person, alternate options to actively participate include joining via Zoom, phone, or by dispatching written sentiments to the Commission's address. Further details on how to engage can be found by visiting the Commission’s webpage at azjudges.info, where comments can also be directly submitted. As noted in their press release, "Names and addresses of the individuals who wish to speak are required," and for written feedback, legibility and authorship details are mandatory for consideration.
Established by a voter-approved constitutional amendment in 1992, the Commission's mandate includes setting judicial performance standards, assessing judges against these benchmarks, and publishing findings for the electorate's information. It's a part of an evaluative framework that saw, in 2025, the surveying of litigants, jurors, self-represented parties, court employees, and attorneys who had direct interactions with Superior Court judges during a defined time frame. As with appellate justices, surveys are administered across their term.
The findings from the Commission's review process will be released ahead of the election in the Secretary of State’s Voter Pamphlet and also made available on the Commission's website, as stated in the press release. Voters will have their chance to decide to potentially keep or remove each judge from their position come November 3, 2026. The lineup of judges up for retention this cycle includes members from the Arizona Supreme Court, as well as Court of Appeals Divisions I and II. Yet only judges pertinent to an individual’s voting precinct will notably appear on their specific ballots.
With the stage set for public engagement and the accountability of Arizona's judicial figures in the balance, the input gathered on October 24 could play a crucial role in shaping the outcome of the upcoming general election. For those looking to partake or simply learn more about the judges in question, the full list of names and further procedural details can be found on the provided press release link to the Commission's official website.
