Summary: The fact that a part-time judge also acts as opposing counsel in two cases being handled by an attorney for one of the parties in the case then before the court, is not per se grounds for disqualification. Issued: December 04, 1989

Summary: It is inappropriate for a judge to serve as the "judge" for the purpose of a proposed "Jail-a-Thon" to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. Issued: February 03, 1990

Summary: The Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits a judge from fund- raising activities without regard to whether the judicial position is, or is not, disclosed in the course of such activities. Issued: February 03, 1990

Summary: Deposit of court funds by the court clerk in a bank of which the judge was an organizer and is a director and stockholder is permissible unless the judge has either directly or indirectly caused this to be done, in which event it is inappropriate. Issued: August 30, 1990

Summary: It is permissible for a full-time State Court Judge to also serve as a judge in a Municipal Court presiding over traffic cases and municipal ordinance violations, but the judge would be subject to disqualification for cause in a particular case wherever disqualification was appropriate. Is...

Summary: It is inappropriate for a judge to serve as a reporter/commentator for a commercial TV station to provide news and comment with reference to ongoing legal cases in the courts. Issued: November 30, 1990

Summary: A city attorney, whose duties include assistance in the drafting and adopting of criminal ordinances, is an employee of a law enforcement body and therefore disqualified by conflict of interest from serving as a municipal court judge. (Note: O.C.G.A. 15-1-8 together with Opinion No. 183 rev...

Summary: The fact that the husband of a judge shares office space and expense with another lawyer does not in and of itself require the judge to disqualify in cases in which the other lawyer participates, but if the judge is, in fact, not impartial, or if, under all the circumstances, a reasonable p...

Summary: A judge should not at the same time also serve as an Assistant District Attorney. Issued: April 26, 1991

Summary: There is no reason an active judge should not, subject to the limitations set out in the Code of Judicial Conduct, serve out a term as elected President of a local bar association. Issued: June 28, 1991

Summary: It is permissible to appoint a law clerk of a Superior Court Judge to the position of part-time Assistant Magistrate in the same judicial circuit in which the appointee serves as a law clerk, but the judge would be disqualified to preside in the trial of a criminal defendant for whom this l...

Summary: It would be appropriate for a judge to serve as a trustee of a retirement fund for the benefit of county employees, subject to the Code limitations governing civic activities. Issued: June 30, 1991

Summary: It would be appropriate for a judge who serves as an officer or board member of a United Way agency to participate in meetings to consider funding requests of such an agency, provided that the judge does not participate, either directly or indirectly, in any fund-raising solicitations on be...

Summary: It is inappropriate for a part-time magistrate to also work as a paid mediator in criminal cases for the District Attorney's office. Issued: March 12, 1992

Summary: Judges may neither solicit funds nor permit the use of their names or the prestige of office for this purpose regardless of the objectives to be achieved. Accordingly, it is inappropriate for the Juvenile Court Judges of Georgia, individually or collectively, to either announce the existen...

Summary: A judge is not obligated to report a violation of the Internal Revenue Code to the I.R.S. even if a violation is admitted by a witness under oath, although nothing would appear to prohibit the judge from reporting such suspected criminal act. (Note: The Commission declines to opine upon the...

Summary: A Chief Magistrate may not hear civil suits filed by a loan company managed by the judge's spouse and having the judge's daughter as its secretary. Unless circumstances exist by reason of which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned, there is no reason why this magistrate s...

Summary: Opinion No. 159 is modified to conform to the 1992 amendment to O.C.G.A. 19-3-49 permitting judges to accept gratuities for performing marriage ceremonies other than during normal office hours. Issued: June 26, 1992

Summary: A person who has acted as a judge pro tempore in the past, but no longer does so, and is a full-time, elected prosecutor, is precluded by Section (B)(2) of the Application Section of the Code of Judicial Conduct from litigating on behalf of the State a revocation of a probated sentence impo...

Summary: A judge can require a defendant to attend a specific counseling program, including a for-profit activity or service, if sponsored by the court's private contract supplier of probation services. Issued: September 25, 1992