RULE 12
            INFORMAL ADMONISHMENT OR REPRIMAND
                       BY COMMISSION

    (a) Generally. The commission may informally admonish or reprimand a
judge, but only with the agreement of that judge. The agreement shall
provide whether the agreement of the judge to the admonishment or reprimand
may be considered as an admission of misconduct by the judge. In any event,
the conduct causing the admonishment or reprimand may be considered in the
event of a future complaint against the same judge. The agreed admonishment
or reprimand may include an agreement by the judge to desist from certain
prescribed conduct.
    (b) Effect of Informal Admonishment or Reprimand. An agreement to
informally admonish or reprimand a judge terminates the complaint or
complaints which gave rise to the admonishment or reprimand, without the
necessity of referring the matter to the Supreme Court.

                          Comment
    Const. art. 4, subsection 31 (amend. 71) gives the Supreme Court the
authority to impose discipline on judges. Arguably, the commission may not
engage in informal dispositions without authority from the Supreme Court.
This rule delegates a small, but important, part of the Supreme Courts
discipline power to the commission. The commission is only empowered to
informally admonish or reprimand a judge. If more serious discipline is
called for, the Supreme Court must impose the discipline. The rule requires
the consent of the judge. The judge will, thereby, be waiving any right to
have discipline imposed only by the Supreme Court. Cf. ABA Standard 6.6.

[Effective May 14, 1982]