The Wisconsin Legislature is considering two proposals that would change the way the Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is selected.

The process for designating the chief justice is currently contained in Art. VII, Sec. 4 of the Wisconsin Constitution, which provides, “The justice having been longest a continuous member of said court, or in case 2 or more such justices shall have served for the same length of time, the justice whose term first expires, shall be the chief justice.” Current Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson has served in that capacity since 1996, as she is the longest serving justice, having been appointed to the court in 1976.

Assembly Joint Resolution 49 and Senate Joint Resolution 36 would allow justices on the state’s high court to elect their chief justice. These identical proposals would require the justices to hold an election each time a justice is elected or reelected to the court.

The proposals are joint resolutions instead of regular bills since a change would require an amendment to the state constitution. To be successful, joint resolutions must be passed in two consecutive sessions of the legislature and approved in a statewide referendum.

Public hearings have been held on each proposal, and video of each hearing is available on Wisconsin Eye: Feb. 1, 2012 hearing on 2011 SJR 36, Dec. 15, 2011 hearing on 2011 AJR 49.