Could a lawyer for a juvenile office also serve as a commissioned deputy juvenile officer?

Plain-English summary

A lawyer representing a juvenile office or its agents asked whether also becoming a commissioned deputy juvenile officer created an ethical or legal conflict.

The opinion found no general conflict under Supreme Court Rule 4, Missouri's Rules of Professional Conduct, but said a particular set of facts might create one. The opinion declined to address separate legal conflicts because its informal-opinion authority extended only to the professional conduct rules. It identified the Attorney General's Office and State Ethics Commission as possible sources for an opinion on those other issues.

Currency note

This 1996 opinion predates Missouri's 2007 amendments to its Rules of Professional Conduct. An official reference note identifies July 1, 2007 amendments to Rules 4-1.9 and 4-1.10. Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context and verify current rules before relying on it.

Common questions

Q: Did the opinion identify an automatic ethics conflict?

A: No. It found no general Rule 4 conflict from the two roles.

Q: Did the opinion resolve other legal conflicts?

A: No. It said such questions fell outside the author's authority to give informal ethics opinions.

Background and rules framework

The answer was confined to Missouri Supreme Court Rule 4, the Rules of Professional Conduct, and expressly separated that ethics question from other legal conflicts it did not decide.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• Missouri Supreme Court Rule 4 (no subdivision identified)

See also

• Missouri Informal Op. 960050: City prosecutor juvenile matter conflict
• Missouri Informal Op. 960227: Juvenile officer opposing county

Source

• Landing page: https://mo-legal-ethics.org/informal-opinion/960001/

Original opinion text

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

QUESTION: Is there an ethical or legal conflict for an attorney representing the juvenile office or its agents to also be a commissioned deputy juvenile officer? ANSWER: It would not generally be a conflict under Supreme Court Rule 4, the Rules of Professional Conduct, for an attorney representing the juvenile office to also be a commissioned deputy juvenile officer. Of course, it is possible that a conflict could arise under a specific set of facts. I cannot address Attorney´s question regarding the possibility of legal conflicts. My authority to provide informal advisory opinions on conflicts only extends to the Rules of Professional Conduct. An opinion may be available regarding the legal issues from the Attorney General´s Office, the State Ethics Commission, or both.