Ballotpedia:State Judge Disciplinary Agencies project
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This project has been archived. For ongoing projects on Ballotpedia, see our scope.
Project
About the project
The purpose of this project is to collect, expand and improve information about state agencies charged with disciplining state court judges. While the state Supreme Courts serve as the administrative body responsible for issuing the discipline of judges, every state has an agency which investigates allegations of misconduct. This project is designed to explain the role of those agencies in the state judiciary.
Steps
- Stub pages for 27 state agencies without pages.
- Add all pages to project HNT: {{Disciplinary agencies}}
- Add existing sprout tag to already created pages (if applicable).
- Check existing pages for typos and errors.
- Research and add info to pages.
- Check off progress report as agencies are completed.
This project will be complete when there are substantial pages for all fifty state agencies.
List of state disciplinary agencies
Things to remember when creating pages
- Do not add lists of members.
- We cannot keep these lists active, even if they are current judges.
- If lists exist on the previously created pages, remove them.
- Make sure to delete NON-JUDGE member pages that have been created.
- If deleting pages, use the reason "legacy error".
Format of pages
Use the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline page as an example.
Each agency pages should have:
- An infobox specifically created
- An introduction
- Composition of the agency
- Explanation of process from complaint to ruling from Supreme Court
- Rules of procedure section
- Court decisions section
- A history section (complete with table)
- External links
- References
- HNT
- Appropriate categories
Research questions
Composition of agency
- Where does the agency get its authority?
- When was the agency created?
- Was there a scandal that led to the formation of the agency?
- What are the official responsibilities of these agencies? (Often found in constitution.)
- Does it have standing members?
- How many?
- What is the term of the executive director?
- How are individuals chosen to lead investigations?
Investigations
- What the rules determining an investigation into misconduct allegations?
- Are investigations confidential?
- How long do investigations generally last?
Allegations
- How much evidence is needed from investigation to bring forth allegations?
Discipline
- What are potential punishments?
- How many judges have been removed from office?
Project templates
- Horizontal navigational template: {{disciplinary agencies}}
- User page template: {{User Discipline}}
- Sprout template: {{discipline sprout}}
See also
Progress report
Progress report
States:
Districts and Territories:
| Agency | Sprout Page created | Research added | Checked for typos and errors | Date completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure |  |
|||
| Virgin Islands Commission on Judicial Conduct | |
Member numbers analysis
States
Notes:
- PA1: Members of the Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania may only serve for four consecutive years, but may reappointed after a lapse of time.
Districts and Territories
| Agency | Number of members | Members (Judges) | Members (Lawyers) | Members (Citizen) | Alternates | Term length | Term limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure | |||||||
| Virgin Islands Commission on Judicial Conduct |
Appointments and laws analysis
States
Districts and Territories
| State agency | Date of creation | Mandate | Appointments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constitutional | Statutory | Judicial | (Judges) | (Lawyers) | (Citizen) | (Other) | ||
| Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission & Alabama Court of the Judiciary | ||||||||
| District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure | ||||||||
| Virgin Islands Commission on Judicial Conduct | ||||||||
