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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)
HOUSE BILL 2124 By: Kannady
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to judges; requiring the Oklahoma
Supreme Court establish an Office of Judicial
Performance Evaluation and a Judicial Performance
Evaluation Council; providing the purposes for the
judicial evaluation process; requiring the Supreme
Court appoint a director; authorizing director to
hire certain employees; requiring the Administrative
Office of the Court provide operational support;
authorizing director to hire certain vendor;
establishing certain duties of the Judicial
Performance Evaluation Council; providing for certain
report; requiring Supreme Court conduct certain
review; requiring Supreme Court adopt rules for
evaluating judicial performance; providing for
confidentiality of certain information; requiring
certain information be posted on Supreme Court
website; providing for an annual report; and
providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1671 of Title 20, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The Oklahoma Supreme Court, under the general administrative
authority over all Oklahoma courts as granted in Section 6 of
Article VII of the Oklahoma Constitution, shall establish the Office
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of Judicial Performance Evaluation within the Administrative Office
of the Courts. The Supreme Court shall also establish the Judicial
Performance Evaluation Council to administer the process for
reviewing the performance of judicial officers.
B. The purposes of the judicial evaluation process are to
provide:
1. Information on judicial performance to the residents of
Oklahoma and to judges;
2. Assist judges with opportunities for improving judicial
performance;
3. Identify needed judicial education programs; and
4. Promote goals of protecting judicial independence while
fostering public accountability of the judiciary.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1672 of Title 20, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation shall have a
director to be appointed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The
director shall hire one or more employees to assist the Judicial
Performance Evaluation Council in administration of the Judicial
Performance Evaluation process as defined by Supreme Court Rules.
B. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall provide
operational support to employees of the Office of Judicial
Performance Evaluation.
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C. The Director of the Office of Judicial Performance
Evaluation shall have the ability to hire an outside vendor to
assist in the surveys established for evaluation of judicial
performance.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1673 of Title 20, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The Supreme Court shall establish a Judicial Performance
Evaluation Council (JPEC) which shall administer the process for
reviewing the performance of judicial officers. The JPEC shall
review survey results according to the judicial performance
standards established by Supreme Court Rules and compile a report.
B. The report of the JPEC shall be provided to the Chief
Justice for distribution to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Upon
receipt of the JPEC Report, the Supreme Court shall conduct a full-
scale, de novo examination and determine whether each individual
judge has or has not sufficiently met the judicial performance
standards.
SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1674 of Title 20, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The Supreme Court shall adopt and administer for all
intermediate appellate judges and district court judges, a process
established by court rules for evaluating judicial performance. The
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rules shall include written performance standards and performance
reviews which survey opinions of persons who have knowledge of the
judge's performance and shall include self-evaluation by the judge.
Such process shall be made available to the Governor, the Speaker of
the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and the President Pro Tempore
of the State Senate.
B. The Supreme Court shall establish rules for improving
judicial performance and may include programs determined to be
appropriate for judges who need improvement in achieving judicial
evaluation standards. The Supreme Court, at any time, may refer an
evaluation report to the Council on Judicial Complaints. Such
report shall be made available to the Governor, the Speaker of the
Oklahoma House of Representatives, and the President Pro Tempore of
the State Senate.
C. Information received from the evaluation surveys shall
remain confidential except as provided in this section. If a
judicial officer fails to achieve an overall satisfactory judicial
evaluation by the Supreme Court in the second of two consecutive
evaluations, or purposely fails to complete assigned programs or the
self-evaluation, the judge's right to confidentiality shall be
waived, and the failure of that judicial officer to meet the
standards set forth in Supreme Court Rules shall be made publicly
available on the Supreme Court's website.
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SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1675 of Title 20, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
The Supreme Court shall prepare an annual report on the
implementation of the performance evaluation program beginning
December 31 of the year following the effective date of this act and
shall distribute the report to the Governor, the Speaker of the
Oklahoma House of Representatives, the President Pro Tempore of the
Oklahoma State Senate, and the chairpersons of the House and Senate
judiciary committees. The annual report on judicial performance
evaluation shall be posted on the Supreme Court website.
The annual report shall include, but is not limited to, the
number of evaluations performed for each level of judicial officers,
the percentage of responses received, and a summary of the overall
evaluation results and of all actions taken to address inadequacies
and deficiencies.
SECTION 6. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
60-1-11382 AQH 12/18/24