Arkansas Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Arkansas Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a district judge preside over early criminal proceedings when the judge’s spouse is a deputy prosecutor handling civil forfeitures?
The committee declined to decide definitively whether the proposed arrangement creates a conflict or requires recusal. It identified disclosure and separation steps but said they may help dissuade a…
May a judge speak at an NAACP fundraising banquet during a convention that also offers legal and civic classes?
The Committee said speaking at the banquet would violate the Code because the banquet itself raised funds and did not meet Rule 3.7(A)(4)'s exception. It permitted speaking at a nonfundraising…
May a newly elected full-time district judge chair a local bank and retain its stock?
The Committee said the judge must leave the bank chairmanship before taking office, but need not immediately divest stock. Frequent disqualification caused by the stock could require later divestiture.
Will the Arkansas Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee assess judges’ past legislative testimony on a third party’s request?
No. The Committee declined to assess three judges’ past appearances before legislative committees because its advisory process addresses a judge’s proposed future conduct.
May an Arkansas judicial candidate’s campaign committee accept contributions from a political party or its PAC?
Yes. The Committee said a judicial candidate’s committee may accept those contributions, subject to state law; it did not treat the contribution as a prohibited endorsement.
May an Arkansas judicial candidate who previously served as a judge call himself a former judge in campaign materials?
Yes. The Committee said the candidate could describe his prior judicial service and use the proposed “former judge” campaign phrases, although he could not list himself as “judge” on the ballot.
May a part-time district judge’s law partner serve as a deputy prosecutor in the same county?
The Committee found no obvious conflict under the described separation of assignments, but said actual conflicts could require recusal and the judge should not share in the partner’s prosecutor salary.
May a judge participate in a commercial reality television series filmed in the judge’s courtroom?
The Committee concluded that the proposed profit-driven television series was inconsistent with the administration of justice and the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct.
May a drug court cooperate with a newspaper series profiling two participating clients?
The Committee concluded that the proposed newspaper series did not violate the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct under the stated safeguards, including voluntary client participation and no…
Is a judge automatically disqualified when a party is represented by the judge’s first or third cousin?
No. The Committee said first and third cousins fall outside the Code’s defined third degree of relationship, while other circumstances could still call the judge’s impartiality into question.
May a judge publicly respond to an attorney’s letter to the editor about a case in the judge’s court?
The Committee said the judge should not comment on the letter. It based that conclusion on the rule against public statements affecting pending or impending matters, without deciding whether a…
May a judge allow regular television broadcasts of drug court proceedings, including a proposed national broadcast?
The Committee concluded that the Code did not permit the judge to participate in or allow a for-profit broadcast of the proceedings and declined to answer her implementation questions.
What campaign conduct did the Arkansas Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee address under the 2009 Code?
Opinion 2009-04 surveys judicial campaign rules as they stood in 2009, including campaign committees, fundraising, partisan activity, use of the judicial title, campaign speech, and resigning to run…
Could a judicial candidate or sitting judge attend political organization events and accept tickets?
The Committee distinguished purchased tickets from gifted tickets and political organization events from candidate fundraisers, applying different rules to judicial candidates and noncandidate…
Could a judge participate in a family nonprofit selling his gospel music recordings for charity?
The Committee found no Code prohibition on the activities described, provided the judge complied with the Code’s other limits, including those on using judicial prestige and interference with…
Could a part-time district judge also serve as a public defender in the same county?
No. The Committee concluded that the then-applicable Code prohibited a part-time judge from representing criminal defendants or serving as a deputy prosecutor in the same county.
Must a judge recuse from every prosecution when his son works as a deputy prosecutor in another division?
The Committee said the son’s employment alone did not require recusal from every case handled by the prosecutor’s office, absent other compelling circumstances, but the judge had to recuse when the…
What did the Committee say about an incumbent judge announcing a future judicial campaign before the election?
The Committee found no express bar in the then-current Code to the proposed card or request for public support, but recommended waiting until 365 days before the election under a proposed new Code.
Could a part-time district judge serve as a city attorney for the city where he judges cases?
The Committee found no categorical ban on the legal-services agreement, but said the judge would have to recuse from every case involving the city and that excessive recusal would make the…
Must a circuit judge resign to run for Arkansas county judge?
Yes. The Committee treated county judge as a nonjudicial office for the then-current Code, so a circuit judge entering that race had to resign under Canon 5(A)(2).
Could an elected city attorney also serve as a district judge in a different city?
The Committee found no direct Code prohibition on holding both offices, but said the then-current Code would require resignation from the judgeship to run again for the city attorney office.
May an Arkansas judge publicly endorse or oppose a candidate for political office?
No. The Committee said Canon 5(A)(1)(b) barred a judge from publicly endorsing or opposing another candidate for public office.
Could a former judge who is not currently an incumbent appear in robes or at a judge’s bench in campaign advertising?
The Committee said a nonincumbent judicial candidate should not appear in a judge’s robe or at a judge’s bench in campaign materials because that would misrepresent the candidate’s present position.
Could a judge’s spouse place a candidate campaign sign on property the judge and spouse jointly own?
The Committee said displaying the described sign on their jointly owned property would be improper because it could be construed as the judge’s political endorsement, while recognizing the spouse’s…
Would the Committee assess a judge’s proposed candidate endorsements against a constitutional challenge to Canon 5?
The Committee declined to decide the constitutional question or rewrite the Code, explaining that its role was to interpret the Code; the opinion quotes Canon 5(A)(1)(b)’s bar on public endorsement…
Could an Arkansas district judges’ council contribute to candidates for the state legislature?
No. The Committee concluded that the council of judges could not make direct or indirect political contributions to legislative candidates.
Could sitting and retired judges take part in a charitable fundraising roast for a retired judge?
The Committee allowed the retired judge to be honored or roasted, but said sitting judges could attend only as guests, could not serve as roasters, and should not have their names used in the…
Could a retired circuit judge who still heard assigned cases put a robed photograph on his book jacket?
Yes. The Committee concluded that the proposed robed book-jacket photograph would not violate any provision of the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct.
Could a part-time city court judge also serve as deputy prosecutor in the same county?
No. The Committee said the same-county deputy prosecutor role violated the Code, while the separate city attorney role described, which excluded prosecutions in the judge’s towns, did not.
Could a part-time district judge represent felony defendants in circuit courts in the same circuit?
No. The Committee said a part-time judge could not represent criminal defendants in the same circuit, despite the limited civil and traffic jurisdiction of his own district court.
Could a lawyer accept a circuit judgeship while retaining financial and business ties to his law firm?
The Committee said the applicant could not accept the appointment on the stated facts because retained firm interests, future fees, and office arrangements conflicted with the Code’s restrictions.
Could a judge send a character letter to a sentencing judge at a defendant’s or lawyer’s request?
No. The Committee said a defendant’s or lawyer’s request was not the formal request required for information to a sentencing judge under the then-current Canon 2(B) commentary.
Could a former district judge use “Judge” in judicial campaign logos and signs?
The Committee said the candidate’s use of “Judge” in campaign materials would misrepresent his present position and violate the then-current Code because he no longer held judicial office.
Could a judge sign a factual affidavit about events from his prior representation of a client?
Yes. The Committee said Canon 2(B)'s restriction on voluntary character testimony did not address the proposed affidavit, which was limited to facts.
Could a judge serve without pay as trustee of a longtime friend’s life insurance trust?
No. The Committee said Canon 4(E)(1) barred a judge from serving as trustee outside the listed family exception, and it had no authority to waive that prohibition.
Could an appellate judge serve on Arkansas’s Sex Offenders Assessment Committee?
The Committee said the judge should not serve because the committee was too close to the law-enforcement and prosecutorial side of the system, and its work might be challenged in court.
Could a judge personally solicit charitable pledges from out-of-state nonlawyer Kiwanis members?
No. The Committee said the Canon’s ban on a judge’s direct individual fundraising applied even when the prospective donors were out-of-state nonlawyers.
Could a private foundation fund indigent drug court services and use the drug court’s name?
The Committee found no Code bar to the proposed foundation name or payments for indigent participants under the stated plan, and agreed the judge should recuse from foundation litigation.
Could a part-time district judge keep working for Legal Aid, and could Legal Aid colleagues appear before her?
The Committee said Legal Aid employment itself did not violate the Code, but appearances by its employees should disqualify the judge, and those employees should not practice in her court or its…
May a judicial council host legislators for dinner to discuss legislative issues concerning the courts?
The Committee concluded that the described dinner to introduce council leadership and discuss judicial-system issues with legislators was permitted under Canon 4.
How did the Committee address a judge’s concerns about a city attorney’s handling of a pending DWI case?
The Committee identified reporting and disqualification canons but left the judge’s case-specific decisions to him; it declined to decide case procedure or special-prosecutor authority.
Does the Judicial Code bar extra compensation for a part-time district judge’s additional jail-related judicial duties?
The Committee said the Code neither barred extra pay for the described judicial duties nor entitled the judge to it; statutory and job-duty questions remained for other authorities.
Could a judge serve on the Arkansas Commission on Child Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence?
The Committee did not find partial commission service necessarily prohibited, but identified duties the judge should avoid and said she should not serve as chair.
Did a proposed exchange of pending cases between two circuit divisions violate the Code of Judicial Conduct?
The Committee saw no Code impediment in the described transfer but said the central issue was judicial administration outside its ethics jurisdiction.
May a judge’s spouse work for a candidate in a nonjudicial political campaign?
The Committee said the spouse could participate as a volunteer or paid worker, while avoiding any suggestion that the judge supported the candidate.
May a district judges council endorse a seat-belt and child-restraint enforcement campaign whose cases its judges will hear?
The Committee said endorsement of this or any law-enforcement program by the council or an individual judge would violate the Code. It also said council members would have to recuse from charges…
May a temporary city judge hear cases brought by a prosecutor while defending clients against that prosecutor elsewhere?
The Committee said the judge must decline criminal defense work within the prosecutor’s jurisdiction when also hearing that prosecutor’s cases; a waiver could not cure the appearance problem.
May a currently serving appointed city judge call himself “Judge” in campaign advertising for circuit judge?
The Committee said a currently serving appointed city judge could use “Judge” or “City Judge” in campaign materials because the description did not misstate his present position.
May a judicial candidate personally ask individual voters to sign a petition to place her name on the ballot?
The Committee said individual requests for ballot-petition signatures did not amount to the public support solicitation barred by Canon 5C2; it distinguished requests to a group.
May an announced judicial candidate solicit charitable donations during a telethon without campaigning?
The Committee said the candidate could participate in the described charity telethon, including solicitation, because the fundraising bar in Canon 4 applied to judges and Canon 5 imposed no similar…
May a judge privately meet a domestic-abuse victim seeking to lift a no-contact order?
The Committee said a private meeting with the judge would violate the ex parte communication rule; it discussed prosecutor, open-court, staff, and independent interviewer alternatives with their limits.
When could a judicial candidate begin fundraising for the May 2002 general election under the then-current Code?
The Committee concluded that Canon 5C(2) still applied after the election-calendar change, so fundraising could not begin until 180 days before the May 2002 election.
What did the Committee say about a judge testifying in a later perjury trial involving testimony heard in the judge’s earlier case?
Assuming the later trial was in another court, the Committee said a subpoenaed judge must follow the law and Judicial Code; it gave no broader approval of voluntary testimony.
May municipal judges contact legislators and court or bar committees about district-court restructuring, using official letterhead?
The Committee concluded that contacts about implementing Amendment 80 as it affected municipal courts fell within Canon 4 and found no reason to bar use of judicial letterhead.
May a full-time judge accept a Judicial Fellow title from a trial-lawyers association?
The Committee rejected public, ongoing Judicial Fellow status with a one-sided litigation organization, while allowing free publications, convention registration, and speaking at its programs.
May a judge serve without pay on a community college board advising a legal-assistant program?
The Committee concluded that the described unpaid educational board service was permitted so long as it did not impair impartiality, demean judicial office, or interfere with judicial duties.
May a newly elected or appointed judge accept a robe from the judge's bar association?
The Committee concluded that a newly appointed or elected judge may accept a robe from a bar association and identified no particular ethical restraint on later gifts of robes upon reelection.
May judges give an interested party materials gathered while addressing a lawyer's possible misconduct?
The Committee concluded that the judges could not release those materials to an interested requester in the proposed format, although they could give relevant information to the Supreme Court…
Did the Code itself resolve whether a judge could continue sentencing people to a jail he believed deficient?
The Committee distinguished judicial misconduct from legal error and left the case-specific determination to the judge; it said lawful alternative sentencing could be used if he judged jail…
May a subpoenaed judge give character-witness evidence by affidavit instead of live testimony?
The Committee said a judge's self-written character affidavit could conflict with Canon 2B despite a subpoena; absent exceptional circumstances, it preferred oral testimony before the fact-finder…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Arkansas Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee interpret the rules of professional conduct for working lawyers, in response to inquiries from members and committees. They are advisory, not binding like court discipline decisions, but courts and discipline boards treat formal opinions as substantial guidance on how the rules apply. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the original source on the bar's site.