Teresa Kim-Tenorio
THE NMI Bar Association has released the results of its performance evaluation for Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio, who is up for judicial retention and is on this year’s election ballot.
The association has 157 attorneys, of whom 93 have active status on-island. Only those who have active status were surveyed and about a third of them submitted an evaluation.
“The survey period closed October 1, 2024, with 29 surveys submitted. The number of responders who support the petition for retention is 28. The number of responders who oppose the petition for retention is 1,” NMI Bar Association president Charity Hodson said in a media release.
The evaluation rated the judge based on the following criteria: legal ability, integrity and impartiality, communication skills, professionalism and temperament.
According to the NMI Bar evaluation results, Judge Kim-Tenorio received a total average rating of 4.43, which is “good.”
The following scale was used to rate the candidate’s performance:
(1) Unacceptable. Seldom meets minimum standards of performance.
(2) Deficient. Does not always meet minimum standards of performance.
(3) Acceptable. Meets minimum standards of performance.
(4) Good. Often exceeds minimum standards of performance.
(5) Excellent. Consistently exceeds minimum standards of performance.
“These evaluations are intended to provide information to the people of the Commonwealth in order to assist them in making reasoned decisions about whether to retain candidates for judicial office during general elections, as it is in the interest of the people of the Commonwealth to have judicial officers of the highest caliber,” Hodson said.
Judge Kim-Tenorio’s term will expire next year. She was nominated by the late Gov. Eloy S. Inos and confirmed by the Senate in December 2013. In the 2018 election, 84.5% of voters chose to retain her.
