Rule 3.13 - Acceptance and Reporting of Gifts, Loans, Bequests, Benefits, or Other Things of Value(A) A judge shall not accept, and shall urge the judge's spouse, domestic partner, or dependent children not to accept, any gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, or other things of value, if acceptance is prohibited by law or would appear to a reasonable person to undermine the judge's independence, integrity, or impartiality. (B) Unless otherwise prohibited by law, or by this Rule, a judge may accept the following without publicly reporting such acceptance: (1) Items with little intrinsic value, such as plaques, pens, mugs, certificates, trophies, and greeting cards; (2) Gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, or other things of value from friends, relatives, or other persons, including lawyers, whose appearance or interest in a proceeding pending or impending before the judge would in any event require disqualification of the judge under Rule 2.11; (3) Ordinary social hospitality;(4) Commercial or financial opportunities and benefits, including special pricing and discounts, and loans from lending institutions in their regular course of business, if the same opportunities and benefits or loans are made available on the same terms to similarly situated persons who are not judges; (5) Rewards and prizes given to competitors or participants in random drawings, contests, or other events that are open to persons who are not judges; (6) Scholarships, fellowships, and similar benefits and awards offered on the same terms and based on the same criteria applied to other applicants;(7) Books, magazines, journals, audiovisual materials, and other resource materials supplied by publishers on a complimentary basis for official use; and(8) Gifts, awards, or benefits associated with the business, profession, or other separate activity of a spouse, a domestic partner, or other family members of a judge residing in the judge's household, but that incidentally benefit the judge.(C) Unless otherwise prohibited by law or by section A of this Rule, a judge may accept the following items, and must report such acceptance to the extent required by Canon 6: (1) Gifts incident to a public testimonial; (2) Gifts, loans, bequests, or other things of value, if the source is a party or other person, including a lawyer, whose interests have come or are likely to come before the judge.Me. Code. Jud. Cond. 3.13
Adopted July 1, 2015, effective 9/1/2015.Advisory Notes - 2015
Rule 3.13 is similar to the ABA Model Code language, and its requirements are similar to those in 1993 Canon 4(D)(5). The 2011 ABA Model Code provision relating to scholarships, Rule 3.13(B)(6), limits reporting exempt scholarships to those that are available to persons who are not judges. The new Rule 3.13, like 1993 Canon 4(D)(5)(g), permits acceptance, without reporting, of full or partial scholarships, offered on the same terms and conditions to other judges, to attend judicial education programs such as those presented by the National Judicial College. Such scholarships are appropriate to accept, although not available to persons who are not judges.
The ABA Model Rule 3.13(C)(2) requires reporting of every invitation received by a judge, judge's spouse, or domestic partner to attend an event without cost-whether the judge actually attends the event or not. The invitation reporting requirement of Model Rule 3.13(C)(2) is burdensome and unnecessary. It may have been drafted to address the issue that has arisen in some other jurisdictions of judges receiving invitations to attend all expenses paid programs offered by special interest groups at expensive resorts. All expenses paid attendance at such programs is covered by the reporting requirements of Rule 3.14 and Canon 6(B)(1)(d).
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