State of Washington

Ethics Advisory Committee

Question

May a part-time judicial officer publicly support a candidate for county prosecutor? May the part-time judicial officer do so as a judicial officer, as an attorney or as a private citizen?

Answer

CJC Canon 7(A)(1)(b) prohibits a judicial officer from publicly endorsing a nonjudicial candidate for public office. Preamble (A) to the Code of Judicial Conduct defines part-time judicial officers and also sets out the provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct which part-time judicial officers are not required to observe. CJC Canon 7 is not among the exempted provisions for part-time judicial officers. Therefore, part-time judicial officers may not publicly endorse a candidate for prosecuting attorney as a judicial officer, as an attorney or a private citizen.

NOTE: Effective June 23, 1995, the Supreme Court amended the Code of Judicial Conduct. In addition to reviewing the ethics advisory opinions, the following should be noted: Opinion 93-9—“Part-time judges” are defined in the Terminology section of the Code. The Application section sets forth the provisions with which part-time judge are required to comply. The Supreme Court adopted a new Code of Judicial Conduct effective January 1, 2011. In addition to reviewing the ethics advisory opinions, the following should be noted: CJC Application II Part-Time Judge CJC Terminology “Part-time judge” CJC 4.1(A)(3)

Opinion 93-09

4/9/1993