Former Gov. Jesse Ventura may be on TV within the next year, only this time as a judge. TV Week reports that Ventura “is deep in negotiations” with Twentieth Television to host a daytime courtroom show.

The company wouldn’t comment, but an exec at Katz Television Group, Bill Carroll, told TV Week that Ventura could give such a “Judge Judy”-style show prominence in an already crowded field: currently, 11 such shows are on the air. “Jesse is a bigger-than-life personality, and there is always an advantage of having a brand name like his attached to a show,” Carroll said. “That personality could especially work well in the court genre, where he could break through in a crowded field. Needless to say, it would be hard to confuse him with the other judges.” The half-hour show would debut in fall 2009.

No word yet from contacts close to Ventura about how fiercely Jesse’s being courted recruited for the job.