Councilman Mark Ciarrocca's nomination as a state Superior Court judge is slated to be taken up by the state Senate judiciary committee during a hearing Wednesday morning.

Senate Judiciary Committee Nick Scutari (D-Linden) has scheduled Ciarrocca for a confirmation hearing before the committee during a meeting starting at 9:30 a.m. Ciarrocca is one of four judicial nominees on the committee's agenda for interviews tomorrow. A total of 10 nominees currently appear on the committee's agenda.

Ciarrocca was nominated last week by Gov. Chris Christie for the judicial post. A two-term Republican, Ciarrocca announced his was dropping his bid for a third term after the governor's announcement. Town Republicans have not indicated who will be filling Ciarrocca's spot on the ballot versus Democrat Matt Sontz and independent Greg Kasko.

A confirmation hearing Wednesday makes it likely that Ciarrocca's nomination will be acted on by the full Senate before the legislature recesses for the summer on Thursday. The Senate typically confirms a variety of gubernatorial nominees prior to the summer recess. The Senate is not scheduled to come back into session until after the November election.

A date for Ciarrocca's nomination to be considered by the full Senate has not been announced. Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) has not posted the agenda for Wednesday afternoon's Senate session as of early Tuesday afternoon.

Councilman Sam Della Fera's nomination as a board member of the state Higher Education Assistance Authority has not been slated for a hearing before the judiciary committee. Della Fera would not need to resign from the Council to assume the part time state post.

If Ciarrocca is confirmed before the Senate recess, he would likely resign his Council seat over the summer to take the judicial oath. Town Republicans would then have 15 days to submit three nominees to the Council to fill the seat, with the Republican dominated Council having 30 days to pick a replacement from that list. The replacement would complete the remainder of Ciarrocca's term, which expires on Dec. 31.

Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, the town's Republican chairman, has indicated that Ciarrocca's replacement on the ballot is his likely interim successor.

Ciarrocca is the third of four Union County judicial nominees nominated by Christie last week to be slated for a hearing before the judiciary committee. Superior Court Judge Frederic Kessler of Cranford and assistant county prosecutor Regina Caulfield of Berkeley Heights were both interviewed by the committee on Monday. Kenilworth Mayor Kathi Fiamingo, a Republican who is seeking her second term and was nominated for a judgeship last week, has still not been scheduled to appear before the committee. A Scutari staffer said he did not know when Fiamingo's hearing would be scheduled for.

Senate Judiciary Committee Schedule for June 29 (As of 1 p.m. on Tuesday)