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WASHINGTON, August 1, 2009 —
WASHINGTON, July 19, 2007 — Center researchers developed a state-by-state survey of personal financial disclosure regulations for state Supreme Court judges.
Forty-seven states have some sort of financial disclosure rules for these judges. In some states, filings are required by state law and by the state's adopted version of the Code of Judicial Conduct of the American Bar Association, so judges in those states file two reports.
To put these financial disclosure requirements in context, Center researchers asked a series of questions about state Supreme Court judges and their filings requirements:
· Judicial selection, length of term and code of conduct – How does a judge win a seat on the state's highest court? How long is the judge's term? Has the state adopted a version of the American Bar Association's Code of Judicial Conduct, which recommends disclosure of non-judicial income.
· Filing – Does the state's Code of Judicial Conduct mandate personal financial disclosure outside of what state ethics laws already require? How often are judges required to report outside ties?
· Extent – What information and level of detail are judges required to report on the forms required by the state's Code of Judicial Conduct or ethics law?
· Public Access – how much public access to the information do the state agencies provide?
Center researchers determined answers to each of the questions by studying the state's Code of Judicial Conduct and active statutes current as of 2007, as well as codes of ethics, disclosure forms and Web sites. Most questions required the researchers to find the information in the Code or statute and then interview public officials in charge of ethics agencies for confirmation. Each answer went through fact-checking and consistency checks to ensure uniformity across the states.
The Survey
JUDICIAL SELECTION, TERMS, CODE OF CONDUCT
1. How are Supreme Court judges selected?
In 38 states, judges must participate in some type of election to win a seat on a state high court (most commonly called the Supreme Court), according to the American Judicature Society. The election can be non-partisan or involve political parties that nominate candidates. Some states follow a judicial appointment by the governor with a retention election, in which a judge is on the ballot unopposed near the end of a term, and voters decide whether to keep the judge on the court.
2. How long is a term for Supreme Court judges?
Terms of office for a state Supreme Court judge range from six years to a life-time appointment.
3. Has this state adopted the ABA's Code of Judicial Conduct?
Every state except Montana has adopted a version of the Code of Judicial Conduct. But while the model code mandates disclosure of compensation for extrajudicial activities, as well as gifts, not all versions of the code adopted by the states require financial disclosure.
FILING
4. Does the Code mandate disclosure (independent from statutory disclosure)?
In many states, the Code of Judicial Conduct requires disclosure and relies on existing state ethics law to execute the requirement. Codes in other states lay out the reporting requirements directly.
5. Requires statutory financial disclosure filing?
Some state ethics laws require disclosure for state Supreme Court judges, regardless of the Code requirement; others are silent on judicial personal financial disclosure.
If both the Code and the state ethics statute require disclosure, the Center's survey asked the following questions for each report.
6. Are disclosure filings confidential?
While no reports required by state ethics statute are confidential, a handful of states keep some or part of the reports required by the Code of Judicial Conduct confidential.
7. Requires financial disclosure filing annually?
Most states require judges to file a disclosure report every year.
EXTENT
8. Outside employment/compensation information required?
All states that require disclosure ask judges to report some type of outside income.
9. Officer/director information required?
Though the model Code of Judicial Conduct discourages judges from holding positions that could conflict with their role on the court, many states do ask judges to report positions they have on boards of organizations or companies.
10. Investment information required?
The model Code does not require judges to report investments, such as stock holdings, but many states do ask judges to report them.
11. Client information required?
Judges are prohibited by the Code from practicing law, but may provide other services and some states require them to report this type of transaction.
12. Real-property information required?
The model Code does not require judges to report real-property holdings, but many states do ask judges to report them.
13. Spouse name required?
More than a dozen states ask judges to disclose the names of their spouses on the filing.
14. Dependent name required?
More than a dozen states ask judges to disclose the names of their dependents on the filing.
PUBLIC ACCESS
15. Governor not forwarded reviewer information?
A handful of states require citizens and journalists to sign release forms which are then forwarded to the judges whose forms have been requested.
16. In-person appearance not required to obtain filings?
A few states require a person to physically come in to the filing office to obtain or view copies of filings.
17. Copy fees less than 50 cents per page?
When citizens request copies of paper disclosure reports, state agencies charge a copying fee. Most states charge less than 50 cents per page for copies of filings.
18. Blank disclosure form available on Web?
When the filing agency is the in the Court system, versus an outside ethics agency, blank disclosure forms were less likely to be available on the Web.
19. Disclosure filings available electronically or on the Web in any format?
Most states were not able to make judges' disclosure reports electronically available for viewing in any format — either on a disk or on their Web site.
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