Alabama Advisory Opinions April 03, 2008: AGO 2008-69 (April 3, 2008)

AGO 2008-69.

Dear Judge Daniel:

This opinion of the Attorney General is issued in response to your request.

When will I have to run for office to retain the district court judgeship to which I was appointed in November 2007?

The following facts are presented in your request:

On November 13, 2007, I was appointed to the Bullock County District Court judgeship vacated by Judge Michael Emfinger. Judge Emfinger was elected in 2004, and his term would have expired in January 2011. I took my oath of office on November 16, 2007.

Vacancies in judicial offices are governed by section 153 of article VI of the Constitution of Alabama, which states as follows:

The office of a judge shall be vacant if he dies, resigns, retires, or is removed. Vacancies in any judi-cial office shall be filled by appointment by the gover-nor; however, vacancies occurring in any judicial office in Jefferson county shall be filled as now provided by amendments 83 and 110 to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901 [Jefferson County §§ 8 and 9] and vacancies occurring in Shelby, Madison, Wilcox, Monroe, Conecuh, Clarke, Washington, Henry, Etowah, Walker, Tallapoosa, Pickens, Greene, Tuscaloosa, St. Clair county shall be filled as provided in the Constitution of 1901 with amendments now or hereafter adopted, or as may be otherwise established by a properly advertised and enacted local law. A judge, other than a probate judge, appointed to fill a vacancy, shall serve an ini-tial term lasting until the first Monday after the second Tuesday in January following the next general election held after he has completed one year in office. At such election such judicial office shall be filled for a full term of office beginning at the end of the appointed term.

Vacancies in judicial offices are to be filled by appointment of the Gover-nor. Id. Vacancies occurring in the counties named in section 153, however, are to be filled in accordance with "amendments now or hereafter adopted, or as may be otherwise established by a properly advertised and enacted local law." Id . This provision allows the named counties to establish an alternate appoint-ment process for filling judicial vacancies.Opinion to Honorable Jerry L. Turner, District Judge, dated March 26, 2002, A.G. No. 2002-185. Bullock County is not a county named in section 153, and research reveals that no alter-nate appointment process has been adopted for Bullock County.

Pursuant to section 153, you were appointed to the Bullock County Dis-trict Court judgeship on November 13, 2007. You ask when you will be required to run for the judgeship that you currently hold. Appointees to judicial office, other than judges of probate, are required to run for election in the next general election after the officer has completed one year in office. Turner at 3, citing Allen v. Bennett , 823 So. 2d 679 (Ala. 2001).

Under the established rules of statutory construction, words used in a sta-tute must be given their natural, plain, ordinary, and commonly understood meaning, and where plain language is used, a court is bound to interpret that language to mean exactly what it says. Ex parte Cove Properties, Inc. , 796 So. 2d 331, 333-34 (Ala. 2000); IMED Corp. v. Sys. Eng'g Assoc. Corp. , 602 So. 2d 344, 346 (Ala. 1992).Section 153 states that you "shall serve an initial term lasting until the first Monday after the second Tuesday in January following the next general election held after you have completed one year in office." Ala. Const. art. VI, § 153 (amend. 328) (emphasis added). The next general election to be held after you have completed one year in office will occur in November 2010. Because you will not have completed one year in office by the Novem-ber 4, 2008 general election, you are not required to run as a candidate in the 2008 general election. The next general election for state office held after you have completed one year in office will occur in 2010, and you will be required to run in that election.

You will not be required to run for the district court judgeship that you currently hold until 2010, the date of the next general election after you have completed one year in office.

I hope this opinion answers your question. If this Office can be of further assistance, please contact Noel S. Barnes of my staff.

Sincerely,

TROY KING

Attorney General

By:

BRENDA F. SMITH

Chief, Opinions Division

TK/NB

399092/119993