May a judge officiate school football games in the evening for modest compensation?

Plain-English summary

A circuit and chancery judge asked whether he could referee junior and senior high school football games in the evenings for less than $50 per game. He said no school district had appeared before him to his knowledge, although that could change.

The Committee concluded that the proposed activity, as described, did not violate the then-current Code. It pointed to the priority of judicial duties, limits on activities affecting the office’s dignity or performance, and the requirement that outside compensation be reasonable and no greater than a nonjudge’s pay for the same work.

Currency note

This opinion predates the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct that took effect July 1, 2009, as stated in JEAC Opinion 2009-04. Later rules and opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context and verify the current Code before relying on a specific rule.

Common questions

Q: Did the Committee prohibit sports officiating because the requester was a judge?

A: No. It said the described activity did not violate the Code if carried out under the stated circumstances.

Q: What limits did it identify?

A: Judicial duties had priority, the activity could not detract from office or interfere with those duties, and compensation had to satisfy Canon 6.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied then-current Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct Canons 3, 5A, and 6 to extra-judicial sports officiating and compensation.

Citations and references

• Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct Canons 3, 5A, and 6.

See also

No sibling opinions yet indexed.

Source

• Landing page: https://jddc.arkansas.gov/opinions/opinion-no-92-04/

Original opinion text

Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.

July 28, 1992

Honorable Bob Shepherd

Circuit and Chancery Judge

Union County Courthouse

El Dorado, AR 71730

RE: Advisory Opinion No. 92-04

Dear Judge Shepherd,

In your request for an advisory opinion you stated that you were a Circuit and Chancery Judge with primary responsibility as Judge of the Juvenile Division of Chancery Court. You asked if your serving in the evening as a referee or official officiating junior and senior high school football games in the area of the State in which you reside and accepting compensation at less than $50.00 per game would violate the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct. You stated that to the best of your recollection no area school district has been party to any case over which you have presided but that this could occur in the future.

Canon 3 states that the judicial duties of a judge take precedence over all his other activities and Canon 5A provides that a judge may engage in numerous activities, including sports so long as such activities do not detract from the dignity of his office or interfere with the performance of his judicial duties. Canon 6 provides that a judge may receive compensation and reimbursement of expenses for extra-judicial activities permitted by the Code provided such compensation is reasonable and does not exceed what a person who is not a judge would receive for the same activity.

Judges cannot and should not live a secluded life away from the society he or she serves. We believe that principled participation in activities such as you have described constitute the kind of extra-judicial conduct that if properly carried out have the potential of enhancing the image of the judiciary. It is our opinion that if you engaged in the proposed activities under the circumstances as described you would not be in violation of the Code.

Very truly yours,

James A. Badami, on behalf of the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee

Note: Committee member Howard Brill did not participate.