PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Supreme Court Justice Robert Brutinel will step down this fall, offering Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs a unique chance to appoint a justice to the predominantly Republican court.
Justice Brutinel will officially retire on October 31, concluding over 40 years of legal and judicial service in Arizona. Appointed by former Republican Governor Jan Brewer in 2009, Brutinel also served as chief justice from 2019 to 2024.
“I leave this position with pride in my service on the courts and great confidence in the future of our judicial system, knowing that the courts are in very good hands,” Brutinel stated in his retirement letter released on Tuesday. “The future of our courts is bright.”
The high court, which was expanded from five to seven members in 2016, has all its current justices appointed by Republican governors, except for one who is a registered independent.
In recent judicial activity, the court made headlines by reinstating an 1864 near-total abortion ban. Brutinel, however, was one of the two justices who dissented. Subsequently, state lawmakers repealed the ban, and Governor Hobbs signed the bill, officially removing it from the books this month.
According to Christian Slater, spokesperson for Governor Hobbs, the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments is required to provide a list of candidates to replace Brutinel by the end of the year. The governor will then have 60 days to make her selection, Slater explained.
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Gabriel Sandoval is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
