NORTHAMPTON — Vacancies for more than a third of the seats on the western Massachusetts Superior Court, causing some court sessions to be canceled and recall judges to be used to cover the workload, is prompting area legislators to appeal to Gov. Maura Healey for expediting the nomination of new judges.

A bipartisan letter sent Wednesday by Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and Rep. Todd Smola, R-Palmer, and signed by 16 senators and representatives from the four westernmost counties, asks Healey to prioritize the nomination process for western Massachusetts judicial applicants.

“As you know well — especially from your days as the Attorney General of the Commonwealth — justice delayed is justice denied,” the legislators wrote. “Our understanding is that four of the 11 seats on the western Massachusetts Superior Court are vacant. An additional seat on the District Court, serving both Northern and Southern Berkshire County, is also vacant.”

Superior Court handles major criminal cases, along with various civil cases.

The lack of judges has been an ongoing problem, including last summer, when the Superior Court had 12 openings statewide, or one out of every seven seats. There was also no full-time judge assigned to Hampshire County Superior Court in Northampton last July and September, and Franklin County Superior Court has regularly not had judges during the summer months.

Governor’s Council member Tara Jacobs of North Adams raised the issue at that time, speaking directly to Healey at a council meeting chaired by the governor, and calling it “a critical bottleneck in our courts, one that is felt and seen.” Following that meeting, Healey made five nominations to the Superior Court, including one for western Massachusetts.

The vacant positions have been attributed, in part, to judges reaching the retirement age of 70, and possibly a lack of candidates, both those who are qualified and those who are interested in being judges.

The letter for the legislators also calls for an increase to the number of western Massachusetts residents on the Judicial Nominating Commission, whose staff screens judge applicants. There is only one person from the region on that commission, down from the four residents who were on it last term.

“True regional equity on the commission demands additional members,” the letter reads.

Katelyn Billings, spokeswoman for Comerford, said the correspondence was not in response to anyone in the court system, but a growing awareness among legislators.

“Sen. Comerford and her colleagues have only heard general concerns about backlog due to the vacancies,” Billings said

Billings said the legislators also understand that the nominating commission has traditionally had more than one representative from western Massachusetts.

Other legislators signing the letter whose districts cover communities in Hampshire and Franklin counties, and Holyoke, include Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, Sen. Jake Oliveira, D-Ludlow, Sen. Paul Mark, D-Pittsfield, Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Deerfield, Rep. Patricia Duffy, D-Holyoke, Rep. Kelly Pease, R-Westfield and Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.