May a juvenile judge administer payments to a nonprofit whose board the judge serves on?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 1994. Ask about yours and see what the current rules of professional conduct in your state say for your facts, with citations.
Plain-English summary
A juvenile judge controlled expenditures from a local juvenile court fund and also served on the board of a nonprofit youth center proposed to receive those funds. The Attorney General and state examiners had raised no objection to the expenditure itself.
The Commission said that fund administration and board service could each be permissible separately, but their combination created an appearance of impropriety and undermined public confidence. It said the judge should resign from the nonprofit’s board because the service would interfere with judicial duties.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1994, 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: Did the Commission say the proposed expenditure was unlawful?
A: No. The opinion reports that the Attorney General considered it legal and the state examiners had no audit objection.
Q: Could the judge serve in both roles at once?
A: No. The Commission rejected administering money to the corporation while serving on its board.
Q: What did it say the judge should do?
A: It said the judge should resign from the nonprofit board.
Background and rules framework
The opinion applies Canons 2 and 2A to appearances and public confidence, and Canons 4, 5B, and 5B(2) to interference with judicial duties.
Citations and references
Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics:
- Canon 2, Canon 2A, Canon 4, Canon 5B, Canon 5B(2).
See also
Source
- Landing page: Alabama JIC advisory opinions
- Original PDF: Advisory Opinion 94-526
- Canon history: Alabama JIC, Canons of Judicial Ethics
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
94-526
Judicial Inquiry Commission
800 SOUTH MCDONOUGH STREET
SUITE 201
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36104
August 26, 1994
This is in response to your request for an advisory opinion from the Judicial Inquiry Commission. Your question is whether you, as presiding juvenile court judge, may authorize payments from the Juvenile Justice Fund to a non-profit corporation of which you are a member of the board of directors. By local legislative act, the presiding juvenile court judge of Talladega County is authorized to expend funds from the Talladega County Juvenile Court System Fund. Pursuant to that act, the juvenile court and the county and local school systems propose to contract with a non-profit, private corporation, the Tri-Systems Learning Center, Inc., for the operation of a youth center. The Alabama Attorney General has determined that the proposed expenditure “is a legal expenditure.” Opinion of the Attorney General, July 21, 1994. The State Department of Examiners of Public Accounts “has no audit objections to expenditures from the Talladega Juvenile Court System pursuant to the contract.” Letter from Examiners of Public Accounts, July 5, 1994. Although there is no ethical prohibition against either your administering the Juvenile Court System Fund as authorized by law or your membership on the board of directors of the non-profit corporation which will receive financial resources from that Juvenile Fund, it is the opinion of this Commission that you may not administer funds to the same corporation of which you are a board member. Service in both capacities lends itself to the “appearance of impropriety” and does not tend to “promote public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.” Canons 2, 2A, Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics. Because service as a board member will interfere with the “proper performance of [your] judicial duties,” it is also the opinion of this Commission that you should resign your membership on the board of directors of the TriSystems Learning Center, Inc. See Canons 4, 5B, 5B(2). This advisory opinion has been considered by and is the opinion of the entire Commission.
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