Opinion ID: 1575240
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: introduction and factual summary.

Text: The Ethics Committee of the Kentucky Judiciary was asked to determine if the Kentucky Code of Judicial Conduct (Code), set forth at Rules of the Supreme Court (SCR) 4.300, prohibits a Kentucky justice or judge from serving as a member of the board of directors or on an advisory board of a financial institution. Revising some of its past opinions, the Committee issued Formal Judicial Ethics Opinion (JE) 118 stating that no justice or judge may serve as either an advisor or member of the board of directors of a financial institution, unless that justice or judge has invested personal funds in a banking company.... This Court has reviewed JE-118 under SCR 4.310(4) at the request of Jeffrey Walson, a family court judge in the 25th Judicial Circuit of Kentucky. Judge Walson serves on the advisory board of a bank. We conclude that in JE-118, the Committee correctly determined that no member of the state judiciary may serve as an advisor or director for a financial institution. But we further conclude that the Committee erred in JE-118 by making an exception for members of the judiciary who have a personal financial stake in the financial institution they serve. [1]