Ann Timmer

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Ann Timmer
Image of Ann Timmer
Arizona Supreme Court
Tenure

2012 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

13

Prior offices
Arizona Court of Appeals Division One

Compensation

Base salary

$205,000

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 8, 2022

Appointed

October 13, 2012

Education

Bachelor's

University of Arizona, 1982

Graduate

Duke University School of Law, 2018

Law

Arizona State University Law School, 1985

Contact

Ann Timmer is a judge of the Arizona Supreme Court. She assumed office in 2012. Her current term ends on January 1, 2029.

Timmer ran for re-election for judge of the Arizona Supreme Court. She won in the retention election on November 8, 2022.

Timmer first became a member of the court by appointment. She was appointed in 2012 by Gov. Jan Brewer (R) to fill the vacancy created when Justice Andrew Hurwitz was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.[1] To read more about judicial selection in Arizona, click here.

Justice Timmer was retained by voters in 2016 to a full six-year term that began in January 2017. As of June 2021, she was vice chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court.

On July 1, 2024, Timmer was elected chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court.[2]

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[3] Timmer received a confidence score of Indeterminate.[4] Click here to read more about this study.

Biography

Timmer graduated from the University of Arizona in 1982. She received her J.D. magna cum laude from Arizona State University College of Law in 1985. Timmer received a master's degree in judicial studies from Duke University School of Law in 2018.[5]

Timmer worked for law firms in Phoenix, Arizona before becoming a judge. She was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals in 2000 by Gov. Jane Dee Hull (R).[6] Timmer was retained to the court in 2002 and 2008 and was chief judge from 2008 to 2011. Gov. Jan Brewer (R) appointed her to the state supreme court in 2012, where she served as vice chief justice as of June 2021.[5]

She previously served as president of the Arizona Judges Association and chaired the Arizona Supreme Court Probate Committee, Maricopa County Judicial Nominating Committee, Pima County Judicial Nominating Committee, and other committees, commissions, and task forces. In 2020, Timmer received the "Woman of the Year" award from the Arizona Capitol Times.[5]

Elections

2022

See also:  Arizona Supreme Court elections, 2022

Arizona Supreme Court, Ann Timmer's seat

Ann Timmer was retained to the Arizona Supreme Court on November 8, 2022 with 71.1% of the vote.

Retention
 Vote
%
Votes
Yes
 
71.1
 
1,301,858
No
 
28.9
 
529,551
Total Votes
1,831,409


2016

See also: Arizona Supreme Court elections, 2016

Ann Timmer was retained in the Arizona Supreme Court retention election with 76.71% of the vote.

Arizona Supreme Court, Timmer's seat, 2016
Name Yes votes
Green check mark transparent.pngAnn Timmer76.71%
Source: Arizona Secretary of State

2008

Timmer was retained to the Court of Appeals in 2008.

  • 71.74 percent voted in favor of retention.
  • 28.26 percent voted against retention.[7]

2002

Timmer was retained to the Court of Appeals in 2002.

  • 74.75 percent voted in favor of retention.
  • 25.24 percent voted against retention.[8]

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Ann Timmer did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Analysis

Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)

See also: Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship and Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters

Last updated: June 15, 2020

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.

The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[9]

The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:

  • Strong Democrat
  • Mild Democrat
  • Indeterminate[10]
  • Mild Republican
  • Strong Republican

This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.

Ann
Timmer

Arizona

  • Partisan Confidence Score:
    Indeterminate
  • Judicial Selection Method:
    Assisted appointment through governor controlled judicial nominating commission
  • Key Factors:
    • Appointed by a Republican governor
    • Donated less than $2,000 to Democratic candidates
    • State was a Republican trifecta at time of appointment


Partisan Profile

Details:

Timmer was appointed to the court by Gov. Jan Brewer (R). At the time of her appointment, Arizona was a Republican trifecta. She donated $175 to Republican candidates and $770 to Democratic candidates.


State supreme court judicial selection in Arizona

See also: Judicial selection in Arizona

The seven justices on the Arizona Supreme Court are each appointed by the governor from a list of names compiled by the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments. The commission is composed of 16 members who serve staggered four-year terms. The membership includes 10 non-attorneys, five attorneys, and the chief justice of the supreme court, who chairs the commission.[11]

The initial term of a new justice is at least two years, after which the justice stands for retention in an uncontested yes-no election. Subsequent terms last six years.[12] For more information on these retention elections, visit the Arizona judicial elections page.

Qualifications

To serve on this court, a justice:[13]

  • Must be admitted to the practice of law in Arizona and be a resident of Arizona for the 10 years immediately before taking office;
  • May not practice law while a member of the judiciary;
  • May not hold any other political office or public employment;
  • May not hold office in any political party;
  • May not campaign, except for him/herself; and,
  • Must retire at age 70.[14]

Chief justice

The court's chief justice is selected by peer vote. He or she serves in that capacity for five years.[15]

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the seat is filled as it normally would be if the vacancy occurred at the end of a justice's term. Potential justices submit applications to the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments, and once the commission has chosen a slate of nominees, the governor picks one from that list. After occupying the seat for two years, the newly appointed justice stands for retention in the next general election. The justice then serves a full six-year term if he or she is retained by voters.[16]

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.

See also

Arizona Judicial Selection More Courts
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Courts in Arizona
Arizona Court of Appeals
Arizona Supreme Court
Elections: 202520242023202220212020201920182017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Arizona
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

Footnotes

  1. KNAU, "Governor Brewer Appoints 3rd Justice to State Supreme Court," October 12, 2012
  2. National Association of Women Judges, "Hon. Ann Timmer Elected Chief Justice of Arizona Supreme Court," March 1, 2024
  3. We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
  4. The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Arizona Judicial Branch, "Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer," accessed August 22, 2016
  6. Van Norman Law, "Current Arizona Supreme Court Justices (Part 1)," June 14, 2021
  7. Arizona Secretary of State, "2008 General Election," accessed June 11, 2021
  8. Arizona Secretary of State, "2002 General Election," accessed June 11, 2021
  9. The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
  10. An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
  11. Arizona Judicial Branch, "Article 6, Section 36: Commission on appellate court appointments and terms, appointments and vacancies on commission," accessed March 24, 2023
  12. Arizona Judicial Branch, "Article 6, Section 37: Judicial vacancies and appointments; initial terms; residence; age," accessed March 24, 2023
  13. Arizona Judicial Branch, "AZ Supreme Court," accessed March 24, 2023
  14. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  15. Arizona Judicial Branch, "Meet The Justices," accessed March 24, 2023
  16. Brennan Center for Justice, "Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map," accessed March 23, 2023