The Judicial Nominating Commissions were created in 1988 when New Mexico voters amended the State Constitution and adopted sections 35,36, and 37 to Article VI.

New Mexico has 15 Judicial Nomination Commissions that screen applicants for vacancies on the appellate, district, and metropolitan courts. The appropriate Commission meets within thirty days of an actual judicial vacancy. The Commission’s mission is to recommend to the Governor names of candidates qualified for the judicial office. Once appointed, a judge must run in the next partisan election and, thereafter, be subject to retention or rejection on a nonpartisan ballot. The Addenda to Article VI contains the Rules of the Commission, the Open Meetings Resolution, and the Applicant Questionnaire.