Court Commissioner

Posting Date

11/06/25

Application Deadline

Open Until Filled

Pay Range

Superior Court Commissioner

Job Type

Commissioners

Department

Superior Court

About the Position

Court Commissioners are appointed by the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court through a selection committee made up of Judges, Attorneys, and Legal Community Members. Court Commissioners preside over matters in Civil, Family, Juvenile, Criminal, Probate, Mental Health, Tax, or Justice Courts and serve as a Judge Pro Tempore as directed. 

ABOUT THE SUPERIOR COURT:

The Superior Court of the Judicial Branch of Arizona in Maricopa County is dedicated to providing a safe, fair and impartial forum for resolving disputes, enhancing access to our services, and providing innovative, evidenced-based practices that improve the safety of our community and ensure the public’s trust and confidence in the Judicial Branch. The Superior Court in Maricopa County, one of the largest, most innovative and progressive trial courts in the nation, seeks innovative individuals to join our team who will embrace our vision of excellence and the principles inherent in the Rule of Law...every person, every day, every time.  We fulfill these principles through a culture that values fairness, respect, integrity, innovation, and safety.

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum qualifications are defined by Arizona State Statute. Commissioners of the Superior Court may serve as Judge Pro Tempore during their regular duties. The minimum qualifications defined by Arizona State Statute are that a candidate for the position must:

• Possess United States Citizenship
• Be a resident of Maricopa County at the time of appointment
• Be of good moral character
• Be a duly licensed member of the State Bar of Arizona
• Be a resident of the State of Arizona for a period of not less than five years immediately preceding appointment
• Be admitted to the practice of law in the state of Arizona for not less than five years immediately preceding appointment
• Not have any disciplinary matters pending before the State Bar Disciplinary Board
• Commissioners serve from time to time as judges pro tempore in the course of their regular duties. The Arizona Constitution, Article VI, §22 requires that judicial nominees must be at least 30 years of age.

Our Preferred Candidate has:

• Achievement or distinction in various areas of the law and litigation consistent with the duties of the Commissioner position

Knowledge, skills, and abilities:

Knowledge of:

• Legal principles and precedents and their application
• The statutory and constitutional law of the State of Arizona
• Family, Civil, Criminal and Constitutional Administrative Law

Skill in:

• Establishing and maintaining cooperative working relationships
• Using logic and reasoning to evaluate and choose between conflicting alternatives based on partial or incomplete information

Ability to:

• Present statements of fact and law through clear communication and logic in written and oral form
• Define issues, perform legal research, analyze problems, evaluate and make appropriate findings and recommendation

ESSENTIAL JOB TASKS

(This is not an all-inclusive list of all job duties that may be required; employees will be required to perform other related duties as assigned.)

• Hear a variety of cases in Criminal, Civil, Family, Probate, and Juvenile Court departments
• During the course of hearing cases interpret, enforce and carry out current laws 
• May be assigned to the Initial Appearance Court, which will include evenings and weekends.  May also be assigned to a location such as the Maryvale Mental Health building or Desert Vista Hospital.   Assignments may last more than one year 
• Exercise the same powers and duties as a Judge of the Superior Court in assigned cases, with the same jurisdiction

Examples of duties in Criminal, Juvenile and Family are below:

• Criminal: conduct arraignments, handle a pretrial calendar, preside over trials
• Juvenile delinquency: conduct detention hearings, pre-trials, adjudication hearings, disposition hearings, and probation violation hearings
• Juvenile dependency: conduct adjudication hearings, permanency planning, guardianship and adoption hearings
• Family law: conduct child support calendars, including Order to Show Cause and contempt.

Working conditions: 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to