A New Jersey municipal court judge has admitted to violating an ethics rule by continuing to represent a local councilman in a private matter after being appointed to the bench in that councilman’s town.

Garwood, N.J., Municipal Court Judge Antonio Inacio acknowledged in a stipulation filed with the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct that it was improper for him to serve a document on the defendant in the case less than a month after being appointed Jan. 1, 2011.