Terminology
In these rules:
"Admonishment" means a written action of the commission of an advisory nature that cautions a respondent not to engage in certain proscribed behavior. An admonishment may include a requirement that the respondent follow a specified corrective course of action.Admonishment is the least severe disciplinary action the commission can issue.
"Censure" means a written action of the commission that requires a respondent to appear personally before the commission and that finds that conduct of the respondent violates a rule of judicial conduct, detrimentally affects the integrity of the judiciary, undermines public confidence in the administration of justice, and may or may not require a recommendation to the supreme court that the respondent be suspended (with or without pay) or removed. A censure shall include a requirement that the respondent follow a specified corrective course of action. Censure is the most severe disciplinary action the commission can issue.
"Chair" means one of the members elected by the commission to perform the duties of the chair and includes the acting chair.
"Commission" means the commission on judicial conduct.
"Commission counsel" means the legal advisor for the commission.
"Complaint" means information in any form from any source received by the commission that alleges or from which a reasonable inference can be drawn that a judge committed misconduct or is incapacitated. If there is no written complaint from another person, the investigator's written statement of the allegations constitutes the complaint.
"Court Personnel"means employees of the court, including judges, administrators, independently contracted court staff, regular court staff; county clerks and clerk employees; and attorneys.
"Disability" means "incapacity"
"Discipline" includes admonishment, reprimand, censure, censure with recommendation for suspension, censure with recommendation for removal, and any other sanction the commission is authorized to impose.
"Disciplinary counsel" means a lawyer retained by the commission to investigate and/or to represent the commission in designated proceedings.
"Documentary evidence" means any business record, public record, handwriting, typewriting, printing, Photostatting, photographing, and every other means of recording any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combination thereof, and all papers, drawings, charts, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films and prints, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, and other documents.
"Fact-Finder" means the commission, or at the discretion of the commission, a subcommittee of the commission or a master appointed by the commission. The fact-finder shall compile the evidentiary record upon which the commission shall base its decision.
"Hearing" means a public proceeding at which the issues of law and fact are tried before the commission.
"Incapacity" means any physical, mental, or emotional condition from which a respondent suffers which is permanent or likely to become permanent and which seriously interferes with the performance of judicial duties. As used in these rules, "incapacity" shall have the same meaning as "disability" in Washington State Constitution, Article IV, Section 31.
"Investigation" means an inquiry, including a search for and examination of evidence concerning allegations, divided into two stages: Preliminary investigation conducted after receipt of the complaint and initial proceedings conducted after authorization from the commission.
"Investigative officer" means a person or persons employed or retained by the commission who investigates and reports the findings to the commission.
"Judge" means those officers of a judicial system who perform judicial functions and who are subject to the Code of Judicial Conduct, such as justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of appeals, judges of the superior court, judges of any court organized under Titles 3, 35, or 35A RCW, judges pro tempore, court commissioners, and magistrates. The term includes full-time and parttime judges and judges who have been or have not been admitted to the practice of law in Washington.
"Medical privilege" shall refer to any confidential, privileged communication between respondent and any health care provider recognized by law.
"Meeting" includes a regular meeting or a special meeting. Business meetings are subject to the Open Public Meetings Act, chapter 42.30 RCW. Investigations, initial proceedings, public hearings, and executive sessions involving the discipline or retirement of a judge are governed by Article IV, Section 31, of the state Constitution and are exempt from chapter 42.30 RCW.
"Member" means a member of the commission and includes alternates acting as members during a member's disqualification or inability to serve.
"Misconduct" means any conduct by a respondent constituting grounds for discipline.
"Party" means the respondent or the commission as the context suggests.
"Presiding Officer" shall be the person designated by the Chair or the Commission to perform the duties of the presiding officer for a specific matter.
"Public member" means a member of the commission who is neither a lawyer nor a judge.
"Record"means the formal statement of charges and all documents filed thereafter in a proceeding including the verbatim report of the hearing on the statement of charges if a verbatim report has been prepared.
"Reprimand" means a written action of the commission that requires a respondent to appear personally before the commission and that finds that the conduct of the respondent is a violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct and does not require censure or a recommendation to the supreme court that the respondent be suspended or removed. A reprimand shall include a requirement that the respondent follow a specified corrective course of action. Reprimand is an intermediate level of disciplinary action the commission can issue.
"Respondent" means the judge or former judge who is the subject of a complaint or statement of charges.
"Statement of charges" means the formal charges of judicial misconduct or incapacity, including any amendment thereto, filed by the commission upon a determination of probable cause.