Ducey's approval of House Bill 2537 will cost the state an additional $1 million and came despite objections from Chief Justice Scott Bales, who earlier this month asked the Republican governor to veto the legislation. In that letter, Bales wrote additional judges are not needed and expansion "is not warranted when other court-related needs are underfunded."
Ducey will have the final say on the two new justices; in January, he appointed Clint Bolick, a registered independent and Goldwater Institute litigator, to the bench.