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Rhode Island Panel Considers New Disclosure Rules for Judicial Appointments
Confirmed
In Short: The Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Commission is set to consider a proposal that would require commissioners to disclose campaign contributions, expenditures, or other covered transfers made to support or oppose judicial applicants over the past 10 years.
The Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Commission is set to consider a proposal that would require commissioners to disclose campaign contributions, expenditures, or other covered transfers made to support or oppose judicial applicants over the past 10 years.
John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, called the proposal a straightforward way to address concerns from good government advocates and some lawmakers.
Marion highlighted the case of Joseph Shekarchi, who was still serving in the General Assembly and had over $4.7 million in his campaign account, as an example that brought the issue into sharper focus.
After seven commissioners voted to advance Shekarchi’s application along with four others, it was revealed that four of the seven commissioners who voted to advance his application had collectively contributed more than $30,000 to Shekarchi’s campaign account since 2012.
The state’s Code of Ethics does not currently consider campaign contributions when determining whether a conflict of interest exists.
Commissioners are scheduled to discuss and vote on West’s petition after announcing which candidates they intend to interview for the vacant chief judge position at Rhode Island District Court.
Background
The Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Commission is set to consider a proposal that would require commissioners to disclose campaign contributions, expenditures, or other covered transfers made to support or oppose judicial applicants over the past 10 years.
Rhode Island is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Island Sound; and shares a small maritime border with New York, east of Long Island.
What's confirmed
- Zachary Mandell, chairman of the Rhode Island Judicial Nominating Commission, prepares to begin the panel’s meeting on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current) The panel tasked with selecting Rhode Island’s judges on Tuesday will consider whether its members must disclose campaign contributions to judicial applicants and recuse themselves from considering those candidates.
- John Marion, Common Cause Rhode Island’s current executive director, called West’s proposal a straightforward way to address concerns from good government advocates and some lawmakers about former General Assembly members seeking judicial appointments.
- Marion said Shekarchi’s application brought the issue into sharper focus because he was still serving in the General Assembly and still has an active campaign account with over $4.7 million in the bank.
- After seven commissioners voted to advance Shekarchi’s application along with four others, GoLocalProv reported that four of the seven commissioners who voted to advance his application, including the panel’s chairman, had collectively contributed more than $30,000 to Shekarchi’s campaign account since he first ran for office in 2012.
- “People who’ve been out of the legislature for a while were somewhat removed from politics, but in some instances still had campaign accounts,” Marion said.
- Philip West Jr., the former executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, after revelations that four commissioners had donated to former House Speaker K.
- Joseph Shekarchi’s campaign account months before he applied for a seat on the state Supreme Court.
- West’s proposal would require commissioners to disclose campaign contributions, expenditures or other covered transfers made to support or oppose a judicial applicant during the previous 10 years.
- Commissioners are scheduled to discuss and vote on West’s petition after announcing which candidates they intend to interview for the vacant chief judge position at Rhode Island District Court, a seat left open by Judge Jeanne LaFazia’s retirement in June.
- The state’s Code of Ethics does not consider campaign contributions when determining whether a conflict of interest exists.
What's still developing
- Search campaign expenditures to explore how candidates and political groups are spending donor money.
- “I believe our campaign finance system here in Rhode Island is pretty robust,” Thornton said.