Members of the Oklahoma Senate have approved legislation that would allow voters to reform Oklahoma’s judicial-selection process.

The proposed state constitutional amendment would eliminate the secretive Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) and instead adopt the model established in the U.S. Constitution that allows the executive to nominate any qualified person to serve as judge, subject to legislative approval.

House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, indicated that the proposal will get a hearing in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and pointedly noted several problems with the JNC.

“It’s not the most transparent process,” McCall said of the JNC.

Under the current judicial- selection process mandated in Oklahoma, a governor cannot select his own judicial nominees based on merit. Instead, a 15-member Judicial Nominating Commission controls judicial appointments.

The JNC selects up to three nominees for court positions, including the Oklahoma Supreme Court, in secret. The governor is required to select one of those three candidates and cannot consider any other qualified individuals.

The JNC does not hold public meetings. The group does not interview candidates in public. And the commission does not reveal how members vote on judicial nominees.

While serving as a legal fellow at the 1889 Institute, Benjamin Lepak researched Oklahoma’s JNC process and compared it to other states in 2019. He found Oklahoma’s JNC is one of the least transparent state judicial nominating groups in the nation.