(a) A vacancy in the office of a judge of an appellate court, whether occasioned by the death, resignation, removal, retirement, disqualification by reason of age, or rejection by the voters of an incumbent, the creation of the office of a judge, or otherwise, shall be filled as provided in this section.

(b) Upon the occurrence of a vacancy the Governor shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a person duly qualified to fill said office who shall hold the same until the election for continuance in office as provided in subsections (c) and (d).

(c) The continuance in office of a judge of the Court of Appeals is subject to approval or rejection by the registered voters of the appellate judicial circuit from which he was appointed at the next general election following the expiration of one year from the date of the occurrence of the vacancy which he was appointed to fill, and at the general election next occurring every ten years thereafter.

(d) The continuance in office of a judge of the Court of Special Appeals is subject to approval or rejection by the registered voters of the geographical area prescribed by law at the next general election following the expiration of one year from the date of the occurrence of the vacancy which he was appointed to fill, and at the general election next occurring every ten years thereafter.

(e) The approval or rejection by the registered voters of a judge as provided for in subsections (c) and (d) shall be a vote for the judge's retention in office for a term of ten years or his removal. The judge's name shall be on the appropriate ballot, without opposition, and the voters shall vote yes or no for his retention in office. If the voters reject the retention in office of a judge, or if the vote is tied, the office becomes vacant ten days after certification of the election returns.

(f) An appellate court judge shall retire when he attains his seventieth birthday.

(g) A member of the General Assembly who is otherwise qualified for appointment to judicial office is not disqualified by reason of his membership in a General Assembly which proposed or enacted any constitutional amendment or statute affecting the method of selection. Continuance in office, or retirement or removal of a judge, the creation or abolition of a court, an increase or decrease in the number of judges of any court, or an increase or decrease in the salary, pension or other allowances of any judge.

[1975, ch. 551, ratified Nov. 2, 1976.]

Editor's note. A § 5A was previously proposed by Acts 1969, ch. 791, but was rejected by the voters at the general election held on Nov. 3, 1970.

Subsection (g) is set out above just as it appears in ch. 551, Acts 1975.

Chapter 104, Acts 1994, proposed to substitute "seventy-fifth" for "seventieth" in (f), subject to a referendum. At the referendum held on Nov. 8, 1994, the act failed of ratification.

Maryland Law Review.For note discussing the strict liability of manufacturers and marketers of Saturday night special handguns used in the commission of a crime, see 46 Md. L. Rev. 486 (1987).

Mandatory retirement. - Circuit court judges and appellate court judges fall within the "elected to public office" exception to the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act and, therefore, remain subject to the constitutional requirement that they retire at age 70. 71 Op. Att'y Gen. 181 (1986).