Table 5.8

Judicial Discipline: Investigating and Adjudicating Bodies

FIPS	State or other jurisdiction	Investigating body	Adjudicating body	Appeals from adjudication are filed with:	Final disciplining body	Point at which reprimands are made public
01	Alabama	Judicial Inquiry Committee	Court of the Judiciary	Court of Last Resort	Court of the Judiciary	Filing of the complaint with the Court of the Judiciary
02	Alaska	Committee on Judicial Conduct	Supreme Court	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	Filing of recommendation with Supreme Court
04	Arizona	Commission on Judicial Conduct	Commission on Judicial Conduct	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	Within 15 days of formal charges being brought, unless a motion for reconsideration is filed
05	Arkansas	Judicial Discipline and Disability Committees	Commission	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	At disposition of case
06	California	Commission on Judicial Performance	Commission on Judicial Performance	Court of Last Resort	Commission on Judicial Performance	Upon commission determination (a)
08	Colorado	Commission on Judicial Discipline	Commission on Judicial Discipline	No appeal	Supreme Court	Adjudication
09	Connecticut	Judicial Review Council	Judicial Review Council; Supreme Court (b)	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	Public censure is issued at between 10 and 30 days after notice to the judge, provided that if the judge appeals there is an automatic stay of disclosure
10	Delaware	Preliminary Committee of the Court on the Judiciary	Court on the Judiciary	No appeal	Court on the Judiciary	Upon issuance of opinion and imposition of sanction
12	Florida	Judicial Qualifications Commission	Judicial Qualifications Commission (b)	No appeal	Supreme Court	Filing of formal charges by Committee with Supreme Court Clerk
13	Georgia	Judicial Qualifications Commission	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Formal Hearing
15	Hawaii	Commission on Judicial Conduct	Commission on Judicial Conduct	No appeal	Supreme Court	Imposition of public discipline by Supreme Court
16	Idaho	Judicial Council	Supreme Court	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	Filing with the Supreme Court
17	Illinois	Judicial Inquiry Board	Courts Commission	No appeal	Courts Commission	Filing of decision by Courts Commission
18	Indiana	Commission on Judicial Qualifications	Supreme Court	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	After disciplinary charges are filed and case is tried or agreed resolution is accepted by Supreme Court
19	Iowa	Judicial Qualifications Commission	Judicial Qualifications Commission	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	Referral by the commission to the Supreme Court recommending formal sanction
20	Kansas	Commission on Judicial Qualifications	Supreme Court	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	Reprimand is published if approved by Supreme Court
21	Kentucky	Judicial Conduct Commission	Judicial Conduct Commission	Court of Last Resort	Judicial Conduct Commission	Once the judge has responded to the formal charges
22	Louisiana	Judiciary Commission	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	The lodging of the record of proceedings and a recommendation by the Judiciary Commission to the Supreme Court
23	Maine	Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability	Supreme Judicial Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Filing of report to Supreme Judicial Court
24	Maryland	Commission on Judicial Disabilities	Commission on Judicial Disabilities	Court of Last Resort	Court of Appeals	Unless confidential, upon filing of a response (or expiration of the time for filing a response) with the Commission
25	Massachusetts	Commission on Judicial Conduct	Supreme Judicial Court	No appeal	Supreme Judicial Court	Supreme Judicial Court
26	Michigan	Judicial Tenure Commission	Supreme Court	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	Filing of formal complaint by commission with Supreme Court or upon filing in the Supreme Court a consent resolution to a matter
27	Minnesota	Board on Judicial Standards	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Filing of formal charges by committee with Supreme Court
28	Mississippi	Commission on Judicial Performance	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Recommendation of Commission to Supreme Court
29	Missouri	Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline	Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	Filing of recommendation by Committee to Supreme Court
30	Montana	Judicial Standards Commission	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Filing of record by Committee with Supreme Court
31	Nebraska	Commission on Judicial Qualification	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Commission may issue a public reprimand
32	Nevada	Commission on Judicial Discipline	Commission on Judicial Discipline	Court of Last Resort	Commission on Judicial Discipline	Discretion of the Commission, upon filing of report by Committee and service upon judge
33	New Hampshire	Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Conduct	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	On issuance of reprimand
34	New Jersey	Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	When reprimand is filed by Supreme Court
35	New Mexico	Judicial Standards Commission	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Upon recommendation of Commission to Supreme Court
36	New York	Commission on Judicial Conduct	Commission on Judicial Conduct	Court of Last Resort	Commission on Judicial Conduct and Court of Appeals	After a hearing at which a judge is admonished, censured, removed or retired, and after the judge is served
37	North Carolina	Judicial Standards Commission	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Public imposition of disciplinary action by the Supreme Court
38	North Dakota	Commission on Judicial Conduct	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	At formal hearing
39	Ohio	Office of Disciplinary Counsel	Board of Commissioners on Grievance and Discipline	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	Adjudication
40	Oklahoma	Court on the Judiciary Trial Division Council	Court on the Judiciary Trial Division; Council on Judicial Complaints	Court on the Judiciary Division; no appeal from Council on Judicial Complaints	Court on the judiciary appellate division	Filing with clerk of the appellate court
41	Oregon	Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Allegations become public when the commission issues a notice of public hearing.
42	Pennsylvania	Judicial Conduct Board	Court of Judicial Discipline	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	Once a final decision has been made
44	Rhode Island	Commission on Judicial Tenure and Discipline	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Unless private, after the commission files its recommendation with the Chief Justice
45	South Carolina	Commission on Judicial Conduct	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Adjudication
46	South Dakota	Judicial Qualifications Commission	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Filing with the Supreme Court
47	Tennessee	Board of Judicial Conduct	Board of Judicial Conduct	Court of Last Resort	General Assembly	Filing formal charges with Board of Judicial Conduct
48	Texas	State Commission on Judicial Conduct	State Commission on Judicial Conduct (d)	Court of Last Resort	Special Court of Review	When issued by the Commission
49	Utah	Judicial Conduct Commission	Judicial Conduct Commission (e)	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	10 days after filing appeal
50	Vermont	Judicial Conduct Board	Supreme Court	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	Supreme Court
51	Virginia	Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission	Supreme Court	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court	Filing of formal complaint by Commission with Supreme Court
53	Washington	Commission on Judicial Conduct	Commission on Judicial Conduct	Supreme Court	Supreme Court	At termination of proceeding in CJC
54	West Virginia	Judicial Investigation Commission	Judicial Hearing Board	Court of Last Resort	Supreme Court of Appeals	Upon decision by Supreme Court of Appeals
55	Wisconsin	Judicial Commission	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Filing of formal complaint with Supreme Court
56	Wyoming	Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court or Special Supreme Court	Upon the recommendation of the Conduct and Ethics Commission and Order of the Supreme Court
11	Dist. of Columbia	Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure	Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure	Chief Justice of U.S. Supreme Court	Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure	Public reprimands are issued with the judge’s consent; orders of involuntary removal become public upon filing with the D.C. Court of Appeals
72	Puerto Rico	Judicial Discipline Commission	Supreme Court	No appeal	Supreme Court	Filing of formal complaint to the Judicial Discipline Commission

Source:

National Center for State Courts, July 2022.

Key:

N.A.

—

Not applicable.

Footnotes:

(a)	Public admonishments or public censures are sent to the judge describing the improper conduct and stating the findings made by the commission; these notices are made available to the press and the general public.
(b)	For suspensions in excess of one year or removal from office, the Judicial Review Council makes a recommendation and the Supreme Court makes the decision.
(c)	The Judicial Qualifications Commission investigates and makes recommendations to the Supreme Court for discipline or removal.
(d)	Decision by the conduct commission cannot be implemented until reviewed and approved by the Supreme Court.
(e)	Commission has the authority to issue sanctions, but recommendations of removal must be brought before the Supreme Court.