Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee Overview
The Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee currently has nine members, seven of whom are judges from the appellate, superior, justice and municipal courts, and two of whom are attorneys. All members are appointed by the chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court and serve three-year terms. The full committee meets periodically but conducts most of its business by telephone and over the Internet.
Administrative support for the committee is provided by the Commission on Judicial Conduct which investigates complaints against judges. The two organizations do not share files, however, and the names of judges requesting opinions are not disclosed to the commission. By court rule, a judge’s reliance on a formal committee opinion may be raised as a defense in a disciplinary proceeding before the commission.
The committee and the commission jointly publish the Judicial Conduct and Ethics Bulletin, a newsletter distributed to all state and local judges. Past issues of the bulletin can be viewed on this web site by going back to the main page and clicking on the bulletin’s link.