The Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics responds to written inquiries from New York state’s approximately 3,600 judges and justices, as well as hundreds of judicial hearing officers, support magistrates, court attorney-referees, and judicial candidates (both judges and non-judges seeking election to judicial office). The committee interprets the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct (22 NYCRR Part 100) and, to the extent applicable, the Code of Judicial Conduct. The committee consists of 27 current and retired judges, and is co-chaired by the Honorable Margaret Walsh, a justice of the supreme court in Albany County, and the Honorable Lillian Wan, an associate justice of the appellate division, second department.

Digest: (1) An associate village justice may not simultaneously serve as deputy clerk/treasurer for the village. (2) An associate village justice may serve as (a) deputy clerk/treasurer for the town which encompasses the village, (b) deputy registrar of vital statistics for the village and/or (c) deputy registrar of vital Statistics for the town. (3) A judge may observe court sessions over which other judges preside for educational purposes, whether as part of a formal Unified Court System mentor program or informally, subject to any applicable rule and statute limitations.