State supreme court vacancy count for October 2025

In this month's state supreme court vacancy update, Ballotpedia tracked announced retirements, nominations, appointments, confirmations, and the swearing-in of justices from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31, 2025. Ballotpedia tracks court vacancies in all 52 state supreme courts.

Announced retirements:

During October 2025, one justice announced his retirement from the California Supreme Court.

Justice Martin J. Jenkins announced on Oct. 9 that he would retire from the court later in the month. Jenkins was initially appointed to the court by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who will also appoint his successor. Jenkins announced that his last day on the court would be Oct. 31, marking the end of a more than 35-year judicial career. Before his appointment to the California Supreme Court, Jenkins served on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the California First District Court of Appeal, the Superior Court of Alameda County, and the Oakland Municipal Court. As of Oct. 31, Jenkins' successor had not been named.

Candidates nominated, appointed, and confirmed:

During October 2025, applicants were announced in Tennessee, finalists were announced in West Virginia, and appointments were made in Texas and Utah.

In Utah, Gov. Spencer Cox (R) appointed John Nielsen to the Utah Supreme Court. Nielsen has served on the Utah Third Judicial District since 2024. Before that, he was an assistant solicitor general in the Utah Attorney General's Office. Nielsen's appointment requires confirmation from the Utah State Senate. As of Oct. 31, he had not yet been confirmed.
In Tennessee, the Governor's Council for Judicial Appointments released a list of five candidates who applied to serve on the state's supreme court. The list includes three Tennessee appellate court judges, a U.S. Attorney, and an attorney. The applicants will be interviewed by the council on Nov. 25. After the interviews, the council will send a list of finalists to Gov. Bill Lee (R), who will make the final appointment.
In West Virginia, the state's Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission released a list of four finalists on Oct. 22. The commission had previously released a list of applicants earlier in the month and interviewed candidates on Oct. 10. The list of finalists was sent to Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R), who must make the final appointment within 30 days. The list of finalists includes three attorneys and one circuit court judge. As of Oct. 31, Morrisey had not announced the appointment.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) appointed Kyle Hawkins to the Texas Supreme Court on Oct. 24. Prior to his appointment, Hawkins worked as an attorney with Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP, a law firm based in Austin. Hawkins is Abbott's eighth nominee to the nine-member Texas Supreme Court and his ninth appointee to a Texas court of last resort. As of Oct. 31, Hawkins had not yet been sworn in.

Justices sworn in/out:

During October 2025, two justices were sworn out of office.

In California, Justice Martin J. Jenkins resigned from his position on Oct. 31. Jenkins was first appointed to the California Supreme Court by Newsom in October 2020. He was the first openly gay justice to serve on California's court of last resort and the third Black man to hold the position. Jenkins' vacancy gives Newsom his fifth opportunity to appoint a justice to the California Supreme Court.
In Nebraska, Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman resigned from the Nebraska Supreme Court on Oct. 31, ending a judicial career of more than 30 years. Miller-Lerman first served on the Nebraska Court of Appeals from 1992 to 1998, when she was appointed to the Nebraska Supreme Court by former Gov. Ben Nelson (D). When she joined the court in 1998, she became the first woman to serve as a justice. She remained the only woman on the court until Stephanie Stacy was appointed in 2015 by former Gov. Pete Ricketts (R). As of Oct. 31, Gov. Jim Pillen (R) had not appointed her successor.

Other news:

President Donald Trump (R) nominated Louisiana Justice William J. Crain to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on Oct. 21. Crain is one of four state supreme court justices who have been nominated to lifetime Article III judgeships. Alabama Justice Bill Lewis and Mississippi justices Robert Chamberlin and Jimmy Maxwell have also been nominated to district courts in their respective states. As of Oct. 31, only Lewis had been confirmed, and none had been sworn into their new offices.

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