Ballotpedia releases the state supreme court vacancies count for 2024


Twenty state supreme court justices vacated their seats before their term was scheduled to end in 2024. Of the 20 vacancies, 17 were caused by justices retiring, and three were caused by justices ascending to the chief justice position of the court. This is the first year since Ballotpedia started tracking state supreme court vacancies that a justice has not died in office within a given calendar year.

The 20 vacancies occurred across 15 states, with most states only having one justice vacancy. In three states (Connecticut, Nebraska, and South Carolina), an associate justice ascended to the chief justice position, leaving their previous associate justice position vacant. Only Minnesota and Massachusetts saw two justices retire from their state’s highest court.

Four chief justices in Connecticut, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Texas resigned in 2024. Each was replaced by an associate justice who had already been serving on the court. Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, of the Texas Supreme Court, resigned on December 31, 2024, with his replacement appointed in January 2025.

As of January 14, 2025, five outstanding 2024 vacancies had not yet been filled. Of the remaining 15 vacancies filled in 2024, six (40%) women and nine (60%) men were nominated to their state’s court of last resort. This is the fourth-highest percentage of women nominated to state supreme courts since Ballotpedia started tracking this information in 2019.

In the first half of January 2025, four justices vacated their seats, with three successors named. Of these three successors, all have been men. Only one 2025 vacancy, in the Alaska Supreme Court, has not been filled as of January 14, 2025.

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