Could a district judge also serve on the Selma City Board of Education?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 1977. Ask about yours and see what the current rules of professional conduct in your state say for your facts, with citations.
Plain-English summary
The requester asked whether a district judge could also serve on the Selma City Board of Education.
The Commission answered no. It said the board role was extrajudicial whether elected or appointed and concerned factual or policy matters beyond improvement of the law, the legal system, or administration of justice under Canon 5G. The letter also directed attention to the problem of holding more than one “office of profit” without resolving that issue further.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1977, after the Alabama Supreme Court’s 1975 adoption of the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics. Subsequent amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context and verify the current Canons and linked opinion before relying on its conclusions.
Common questions
Q: Would appointment rather than election change the answer?
A: No. The Commission said school-board service was extrajudicial either way.
Q: What was the Commission’s Canon 5G reasoning?
A: It regarded the board as addressing issues of fact or policy outside improvement of the law, the legal system, or administration of justice.
Q: Did the letter decide the separate office-of-profit issue?
A: No. It directed the judge’s attention to that problem without further analysis.
Background and rules framework
The opinion applies Canon 5G to the proposed school-board role, describing it as concerned with matters outside improvement of the law, the legal system, or the administration of justice.
Citations and references
Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics:
- Canon 5G
See also
- AL Judicial Ethics Op. 79-54: Community Action Agency Board
- AL Judicial Ethics Op. 83-191: Hospital Advisory Board
Source
- Landing page: Alabama JIC advisory opinions
- Original PDF: Advisory Opinion 77-17
- Canon history: Alabama JIC, Canons of Judicial Ethics
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
77-17
Judicial Inquiry Commission
800 SOUTH MCDONOUGH STREET
SUITE 201
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104
February 3, 1977
You asked the Commission recently whether or not you could serve as a District Judge and a member of the Selma City Board of Education at one and the same time. The Commission concluded, after studying your request for an opinion, that service on a board of education is extra-judicial whether you are elected or are appointed. Such service and position is “concerned with issues of fact or policy on matters other than the improvement of the law, the legal system or the administration of justice.” Canon 5G, Canons of Judicial Ethics. Hence, it is the Commission’s opinion that a District Judge should not serve as a member of a board of education. I was also requested to direct your attention to the problem of holding more than one “office of profit.” I trust the above answers your question.
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