Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 451

FORMERLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 605

AN ACT PROPOSING THE AMENDMENT OF ARTICLE IV OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE BY CREATING THE JUDICIAL OFFICE OF SENIOR JUDGE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each House thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. Amend Article IV of the Constitution of the State of Delaware by adding a new §39 as follows:

139. Senior Judge.

Any eligible judge of a court established by this amended Article IV of this Constitution or by act of the General Assembly who so elects and who receives certification from the Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court may resign and become a Senior Judge of the court on which he/she was sitting at the time of resignation. An "eligible judge" for purposes of this §39 is one who, at the time of election is a sitting judge and, at a minimum, has served as a judge for the number of years and is of the age required, if any, by the State Judiciary Pension Plan (29 Del. C. Ch. 56) to immediately begin receiving a service pension.

A Senior Judge must perform at least three months of judicial work each year. Satisfactory completion of this requirement, as determined through a recertification process provided by statute, must be established each year in order to continue as a Senior Judge in the following year.

A Senior Judge shall receive all pension benefits that he/she would have been eligible for had he/she retired and, in addition, shall be paid one fourth of the current salary of an active judge on the court from which he/she retired. A Senior Judge may not engage in the practice of law and is subject to the Code of Judicial Conduct. A Senior Judge is subject to censure, removal or retirement by the Court on the Judiciary in accordance with §37 of this Article IV.

Senior Judges shall not be counted for purposes of determining the political representation on any court or on any combination of courts under §3 of Article IV.

A Senior Judge may be designated to sit temporarily on any court to which he/she could be designated under the Constitution and statutes of the State during active service as a judge."

Approved August 3, 1992.