In re Judicial Ethics Op. 2021-1

• Decision Date: 05 November 2021
• Docket Number: No. 2021-1,2021-1
• Citation: 501 P.3d 477 (Mem)
• Parties: JUDICIAL ETHICS OPINION 2021-1
• Court: Oklahoma Judicial Ethics Advisory Panel

501 P.3d 477 (Mem)

JUDICIAL ETHICS OPINION 2021-1

No. 2021-1

Judicial Ethics Advisory Panel of Oklahoma.

November 5, 2021

¶1 FACTS:

An attorney is presently holding the positions of part-time municipal judge for two small cities in the State of Oklahoma. Both municipal courts are not "courts of record." This attorney is considering running for election as District Judge.

¶2 QUESTION:

If the attorney becomes a candidate for District Judge, is the attorney required to resign the part-time judicial positions before and or during the election campaign period for District Judge?

¶3 ANSWER TO QUESTION:

No

¶4 DISCUSSION:

No provision in the Code of Judicial Conduct requires a sitting judge to resign a judicial position while engaged as a candidate in a non-partisan election for judicial office, and the reasons identified in Comment [1] to 5 O.S. § Rule 4.5(A) (OSCN 2018), Appendix 4 , as the basis for requiring a resignation when the judge becomes a candidate for "Non-Judicial Office," are not present in an election for judicial office. The Judicial Ethics Advisory Panel opinion in 2018 JUD ETH 1, involved a part-time municipal judge who wanted to run for a non-judicial elective office, i.e., County Commissioner. According to the express terms of 5 O.S. § Rule 4.5(A) (OSCN 2018), Appendix 4 , the part-time judge would be required to resign the judicial positions to be a candidate for non-judicial elective office. Therefore, that opinion is not applicable here. Moreover, two additional Judicial Ethics Advisory Panel opinions adopted when Canon 5 of the Judicial Code of Conduct controlled activities in judicial elections, much like Canon 4 does currently, seem to assume that sitting judges may be candidates in judicial elections without resigning. In Judicial Ethics Opinion 1998-3 , 1998 OK JUD ETH 3, 86 P.3d 648, the panel decided that a "sitting appointed judge" was not required to resign from a current judicial position "in order to prepare to run for judicial office." In that same year, the panel in Judicial Ethics Opinion 1998-12 , 1998 OK JUD ETH 12, 86 P.3d 654, allowed a sitting judge who would run for a different judicial position to refer to the candidate as "judge" in campaign materials so long as the present judicial position is made clear, and it is made clear that the candidate is not the incumbent for the judicial position being sought.

/s/ Honorable Glenn Adams

All Judges Concur