Decoding Local Government: Prosecutors and Judges

By Jo-Ann Johnston

Courtrooms are serious places. The stakes for the people who are involved in cases that are argued and decided in courts can be very high, even life-altering. The people who work there fill specialized roles, many requiring an advanced education. Juries, when required, are asked to make  important judgments based on what they hear and understand.

No wonder it can seem difficult to choose the candidates best-qualified to fill electoral roles in the justice system. Voters start with little practical knowledge, and watching courtroom television dramas and movies will not help.

For this blog, fortunately, we can focus our attention a bit. Federal court judges and district attorneys operating at the federal level are appointed, rather than being elected by local voters, so we can set that category of professionals aside.

Among the states, things differ from the federal level. And the systems among the states vary somewhat from place to place. A handful of states appoint district attorneys.* In most states, though, voters directly elect district attorneys of the counties or court districts** (there are cases where a district covers more than one county) relevant to them. 

The district attorney, as chief prosecutor, with his or her office staff, can:

•  ask a grand jury to decide whether a case merits a criminal charge or charges and trial; 

• bring charges on their own authority and present the case in the relevant court and try to win a conviction; or

• decide when and under what terms the state will offer an accused person a lesser charge and sentence in return for a guilty plea.

The most common term of office for an elected district attorney is four years, but that varies by place. Generally,  states determine how many terms a district attorney may serve in office – though in some cases, counties can influence the rules. 

Some voters unable to decide

Meanwhile, studies of past elections tend to show that incumbent district attorney candidates frequently run without opposition. Voter response is low. Voters who come to the polls and fill out other parts of their ballots often skip the district attorney box. 

Still, there are some factors that can make a difference in these races. A study published in 2024 suggests that incumbent prosecutors might get a boost if they are the same political party as a popular president.  (In some places, district attorney races are officially non-partisan on the ballot; still, competitors can emerge from different parties.) Higher crime rates can also work in an incumbent’s favor, the same researchers found. They looked at races between 2012 and 2020.

Voters who are serious about evaluating district attorney candidates in depth can turn to legal groups and voter-education groups to read specific questions that can be put to candidates concerning job performance and justice.

Judges

Voters also tend to have difficulty making decisions about judges, and for good reasons. It can be difficult to form an opinion because so many factors are at play in the 39 states that use elections in some form to seat judges. 

Judges have administrative responsibilities in running courtrooms, but most people concentrate on judges’ duties to interpret and apply laws and rules during court proceedings, to maintain fairness, and sometimes to decide outcomes of cases.

It’s not just the job that is complex. Even at the state level, the process of seating a judge can seem byzantine.

There are different kinds of courts even within a state, including trial courts, appellate courts (in some states), and supreme courts (the highest in the state), adding to the complexity. 

Though the number of states that hold judicial elections is significant, some states appoint their judges with a variety of different decision-makers involved. The pluses and minuses of both systems are debated. Meanwhile, some states use a hybrid system. 

For instance, there are localities where judges are appointed to the office when they are new to the bench, but then have to be elected by the voters at the end of their terms to earn the right to stay in office. The advantage here for voters is having the candidate’s job-performance record to consult. These are called retention elections.

There’s more. Judicial races may be partisan elections, with the ballots identifying the candidates’ political parties. But some races, depending on the area, are non-partisan and conducted without reference to any party labels.

Some media do provide insight into what’s at stake in state judicial elections. The legal trends newsletter State Court Report, for  instance, recently provided an overview of significant state judicial races coming up in 2026. (The newsletter comes from the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, which focuses on law and public policy, especially ones involving key issues and state constitutions.) To see what State Court Report says about the 30-plus states holding state supreme court races this year, follow this link. 

Voters who want to make a quick choice in judicial elections might simply rely on name recognition. It’s also worthwhile to look up information issued by state or county League of Women Voters chapters, or other groups with experience in vetting judicial candidates, to see what recommendations they make.

Residents of small towns may even get the chance to choose one or more part-time justices to decide low-level matters; such justices do not have to be attorneys but may have to take training and convince voters they have the right temperament for the job.There are some groups advocating for changes to be made in the systems that various states use for judicial elections. Not only is the present system confusing, change advocates say, it is becoming more and more expensive to conduct judicial campaigns, causing multiple concerns.

* Alaska, Connecticut, and New Jersey appoint district attorneys.

**The district attorneys in the small states of Rhode Island and Delaware operate statewide.

Note: Previous blog entries in this series: Public School District Boards; Sheriffs
Next: Coroners