In American states, an elected governor is the head of the executive branch. Other leaders in this branch, such as the lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and auditors and commissioners are also elected into their positions by the people. Due to the freedom of being able to organize the structure of each executive branch freely, there is much variation among the states. Officials of the executive branch take the laws that are passed by the legislature and turn them into action of the government throughout the state. In order to do this properly, the executive branch must follow the legislative intent. Legislative intent is what the legislature meant for the bill to do when they agreed to pass it. While doing these things, the executive branch holds the responsibility of administering and enforcing programs and operations of the state government that follow the constitution and, in turn, directly serves the people. The executive branch provides functions like purchasing, personnel, and budgeting in order to help fulfill the responsibilities a state has to serve its people.
The judicial branches in American state governments are typically led by the state supreme court, which deals with the appeals that lower-level state courts might have. Legislation and state constitutions are determining factors of how courts are structured as well as factors in judicial appointments and elections. Judicial selection methods vary in terms of how they select their supreme court justices. Legislative appointment, gubernatorial appointment, partisan elections, nonpartisan elections, and the merit plan are a few basic strategies used by various states.
One of the earliest techniques of judicial selection was done by legislative appointment. Although it was used early on, only two states currently appoint their supreme court justices this way. With this technique, a legislative committee or commission screens candidates and reports what it finds to the full legislature for a vote.
