State of Washington

Ethics Advisory Committee

Question:

May a part-time municipal judge, appointed by the mayor, temporarily rent an RV spot to the newly appointed police chief of the same municipality for 6 months while the police chief is searching for a house in the area? 

Answer:

Part-time judges are not required to comply with CJC 3.11. CJC Application II(A)(2). However, the judicial duties of judges should take precedence over all other activities, and part-time judges should not engage in outside activities that would interfere with their ability to sit on cases that routinely come before them. CJC Application II Comment [2]. Although part-time judges are not prohibited from all financial activities that full time judges are, they must be alert to the possibility of conflicts of interest and should liberally disclose such circumstances on the record, even if there is no apparent reason to withdraw. CJC Application II Comment [1].

It is reasonable to believe that a part-time judge who rents an RV spot to the municipality’s police chief for six months would have to disclose the financial relationship on the record so frequently that it may have the effect of interfering with their ability to sit on cases that routinely come before them. Because a municipal court judge’s ongoing financial gain by renting to the municipality’s police chief could reflect adversely on the judicial officer’s impartiality, the part-time municipal judge should not rent a temporary RV spot to the police chief. CJC 1.2.

Opinion 18-05

12/03/2018