January 30, 2025
By Bill Raftery
Altering the number of justices who serve on a state’s court of last resort rarely happens, but in the last 4 years legislative efforts have been made in 3 states to change that number, marking the largest number of attempts in the last decade. The last time there was this level of legislative interest was a decade ago when Arizona’s legislature increased that state’s supreme court from 5 to 7 (H.B. 2537 of 2016) and Georgia’s legislature increased their high court from 7 justices to 9 (H.B. 927 of 2016). Nevada’s legislature repealed a provision that would have shrunk that state’s supreme court due to the creation of the state’s intermediate appellate court, keeping the number of justices on the Nevada Supreme Court at 7 (S.B. 5214 of 2015).
One reason these changes take place so rarely is the difficulty in changing the number of justices: 24 states require a constitutional amendment, 24 states give the legislature power to set the number of seats by statute, and 2 states require consent of the court plus legislative action (Alaska and South Dakota).
Three states have made attempts in the last 2 years to alter these numbers directly or indirectly:
- Louisiana: Between 2022 and 2024, 8 bills were introduced to amend the state’s constitution to increase the size of the court from 7 members to 9. None advanced to the ballot box.
- 2022 saw 2 rounds of legislation. The first was filed during the legislature’s First Extraordinary Session as H.B. 10 and H.B. 13. The second set was filed during the regular 2022 session as S.B. 288.
- 2024 saw 2 rounds of legislation. The first was filed during the legislature’s First Extraordinary Session of 2024 as H.B. 1, H.B. 13, and S.B. 6. The second set was filed during the regular 2024 session as H.B. 28 and H.B. 533.
- Maine: S.P. 488 of 2023 would have reduced the Maine Supreme Judicial Court from 7 members down to 5. It was rejected in committee. A related bill (S.P. 587) would have mandated cases must be decided by all 7 justices of the supreme judicial court. If all 7 justices were not available to sit, then other active or retired judges would be added. That bill was approved in committee but advanced no further.
- Montana S.B. 311 of 2023 would have reduced the Montana Supreme Court from 7 members to 5. The bill cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee but was rejected by the full Senate 24-26. In 2025 the bill has been drafted but not yet formally reintroduced as LC0025.
A complete list of all court-related legislation introduced on this and other hot topics in 2025 can be found on the Gavel to Gavel website (www.ncsc.org/gaveltogavel). Sign up for the weekly newsletter published during state spring legislative sessions.
Is your state looking to change the number of justices on its top court? Email us at Knowledge@ncsc.org or call 800-616-6164 and let us know. Follow the National Center for State Courts on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Vimeo. For more Trending Topic posts, visit ncsc.org/trendingtopics and subscribe to the LinkedIn newsletter.