Pursuant to Article VI, § 156(a), of the Alabama Constitution, the Judicial Inquiry Commission consists of nine members: a judge of an intermediate appellate court, appointed by the Alabama Supreme Court; three persons who are not lawyers or judges and a district judge, appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Alabama Senate; two circuit judges, appointed by the Alabama Circuit Judges’ Association; and two members of the Alabama State Bar, appointed by the Commissioners of the Alabama State Bar. Thus, seven Commission members are appointed by elected Alabama officials, with four of those members also being confirmed by the Alabama Senate. Each Commission member serves a four-year term. The composition of the Judicial Inquiry Commission and the mechanism of appointment of its members by various public, elected officials and entities are very similar to all but a few of the judicial-conduct systems in the United States.
