STATE OF WASHINGTON
ETHICS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
OPINION NO. 95-2



Questions
     1. Is it proper for a judge who was a former city councilperson who is
also a former mayor of the city to hear city traffic and misdemeanor cases
filed in the district court to which he or she has just been elected?

     2. If such activity is not proper, how much time should pass before
this person can hear such cases, if ever?

     3. Would the answer to Question 1 be different if the elected person's
spouse is regularly employed by the court's probation department as a
probation counselor, and regularly prepares presentence reports and other
reports for the court?

Answer
     CJC Canon 3(C) requires a judicial officer to be disqualified from
hearing cases in which his or her impartiality might reasonably be
questioned.

     The judicial officer should examine past involvement and public
positions on specific statutes or ordinances that would lead a reasonable
person to conclude that the officer was not impartial in particular cases.
In those instances disclosure of the involvement or activity is the remedy.

     The judicial officer should not preside over proceedings in which the
judicial officer's spouse has prepared presentence reports or other reports
for the court because acting in those cases would call the judicial
officer's impartiality into question.