A judge shall file annual financial disclosure reports.
To avoid actual or apparent conflicts of interest, and to assure compliance with Rule 2.11 and the requirements of Canon 3, a judge is required to file initial and annual financial disclosure reports to which the public has access. This requirement is a rule of reason and should not be interpreted to intrude unnecessarily on the privacy of a judge or others, including spouses, domestic partners, or dependent children of judges. Nevertheless, the specific disclosure requirements of this Canon are minimum standards and are not intended to be all-inclusive. In case of doubt about whether a particular disclosure is necessary to serve the purposes of this Canon, the decision should be in favor of disclosure.
A. Filing Required. (1) Upon initial appointment or election to the judiciary of the State of Maine, a judge shall make a financial disclosure report to the Chief Justice containing the information set forth in section B(1)(e)-(j) of this Canon, and any information respecting a spouse, domestic partner, or dependent child required under section B(2)(c)-(d) of this Canon, as of the date of the report. The report shall be filed with the Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court not more than 60 days after the date upon which the judge takes the oath of office. (2) A judge who holds office for more than 60 days in any calendar year shall make a financial disclosure report to the Chief Justice containing the information required by section B of this Canon for the portion of that year in which the judge held office. The report shall be filed with the Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court on or before May 15 of the succeeding year. (3) All reports required to be filed by this section shall be made on forms that the Supreme Judicial Court shall adopt, and may from time to time amend, by administrative order. The forms shall be distributed by the Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court. (4) The Chief Justice may, for good cause shown, grant an extension of the time to file any report required by this section for a period not to exceed 90 days.(5) Disclosure of a judge's income, investments, liabilities, or other financial interests is required only to the extent provided in this Canon and Rule 2.11. B. Contents of the Report. (1) Each report filed pursuant to subsection A(2) of this Canon shall contain the following information for the period for which the report is filed: (a) The source and type of any income received in money or in kind having a value in excess of $1,000 in the aggregate from any single source. (b) The source and a brief description of any honoraria received. (c) The source and a brief description of any gift, bequest, or favor received in money or in kind having a value in excess of $300 in the aggregate from any single source, not including gifts, bequests, or favors that may be accepted pursuant to Rule 3.13(B)(2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8). (d) The source and a brief description of any reimbursement or payment received in money or in kind by the judge for the judge's own expenses or those of a spouse, domestic partner, or dependent child in excess of $300 per person in the aggregate from any single source, not including reimbursement or payment of the judge's expenses by the State of Maine or a political subdivision thereof.(e) A brief description of any interest in real property held at any time during the year.(f) A brief description of any interest in tangible or intangible personal property exceeding $1,000 in value and held at any time during the year in a trade or business or for investment or the production of income, provided that a personal indebtedness owed by a relative need not be reported.(g) The identity and a brief description of any indebtedness or other liability exceeding $1,000 in the aggregate owed at any time during the year to any single creditor, not including (i) alimony, child support, and separate maintenance obligations; (ii) any loan from a relative; (iii) any mortgage or other loan held by a lending institution and secured by real property that is a personal residence of the judge or by a personal motor vehicle or other tangible personal property, provided that the loan is one made in the regular course of business on the same terms generally available to persons who are not judges; and (iv) any credit card or revolving charge account, or similar credit arrangement, not in arrears on the final date of the reporting period. (h) The identity of any position held at any time during the year as a fiduciary of a trust, estate, or person or as an officer, director, trustee, partner, proprietor, representative, employee, or consultant of a business or nonprofit enterprise. (i) The title, court, and docket number of litigation pending at any time during the year in which the judge is a party-in-interest, not including suits against the judge for acts in an official capacity. (j) The identity of any pension or other retirement or disability plan from which the judge has received at any time during the year, or may become eligible to receive, benefits, not including any plan administered by a state or the federal government. (2) Each report filed as required by this Canon shall separately set forth, to the extent known by the judge or ascertainable by reasonable inquiry, the following information respecting the spouse, domestic partner, or any dependent child of the judge: (a) Under section B(1)(a), the type of economic activity representing each source of income of $1,000 or more received by a spouse, domestic partner, or dependent child.(b) Under section B(1)(b), (c), and (d), honoraria, gifts, bequests, favors, and expense reimbursements or payments received by a spouse, domestic partner, or dependent child that are received jointly with the judge or solely as a result of the recipient's relationship to the judge. (c) Under section B(1)(e), (f), (g), and (j), property interests; liabilities; and pension, retirement or disability plans of a spouse, domestic partner, or dependent child that (i) are held jointly with the judge;(ii) are derived or payable from the income, assets, or activities of the judge; or(iii) provide, or are expected to provide, any substantial financial or economic benefit or detriment to the judge. (d) Under section B(1)(h), the identity of any fiduciary or other position held jointly with the judge, or held in connection with an interest or enterprise from which the judge receives, or may be expected to receive, any substantial financial or economic benefit.(3) Upon the request of a judge and a showing of good cause for nondisclosure, the Chief Justice may order that specific information required to be reported under this Canon shall be treated as confidential. Such information shall be omitted from the judge's report with a note stating that the omission is pursuant to the order of the Chief Justice. The omitted information shall be set forth in an appendix to the report. The request for nondisclosure and the appendix shall thereafter be retained by the Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court in a confidential file for the period for which the report is retained under section C(1) of this Canon. The request and appendix shall not be available for public inspection under section C(2). (4) An item that is required to be described under subsection 1 of this section is sufficiently described if the report lists the type of any asset or liability and the name and principal type of economic activity of any individual or entity that is (a) the source of any income or other benefit received, (b) a debtor or other party liable for satisfaction of the judge's interest in any intangible asset held, or (c) a creditor on any liability owed. The report need not specify the amount or value of any income, benefit, asset, or liability. C. Public Access. (1) The Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court shall retain all reports filed under this Canon on file for a period of six years from the date of filing. (2) Except as provided in section B(3) of this Canon, the Executive Clerk shall permit any person to inspect a report on file and shall furnish a copy of such report to any person for a fee reflecting the actual cost of reproduction and mailing. D. Failure to File. The Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court shall review all reports filed within 45 days of the filing deadline and shall promptly notify any judge who has failed to file a report or provide complete information. A copy of the notification shall be sent to the Chief Justice. If a judge does not, within 15 days of such notification, file the required report or information or receive an extension of the filing deadline under section A(4) of this Canon, the Executive Clerk shall refer the matter to the Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability for appropriate action.E. Judges of Probate. A judge of probate shall make initial and annual financial disclosure reports to which the public has access as provided in this Canon, with the following exceptions: (1) A report of self-employment income under section B(1)(a) need only specify the principal type of economic activity from which that income is derived and, if the judge is associated with a partnership, firm, professional association, or similar business entity, the name and major areas of economic activity of that entity; provided that, if the judge is a practicing lawyer, the major areas of practice of the judge and any firm or other professional entity with which the judge is associated shall also be reported.(2) Honoraria, gifts, bequests, favors, and expense reimbursements or payments need be reported under section B(1)(b)-(d) of this Canon only if they are received by the judge in the course of, or as a result of, activities undertaken in an official capacity or are received from a party or other person whose interests have come or are likely to come before the judge. (3) The identity of a position held in the ordinary course of the practice of law and reportable under section B(1)(h) need not be reported if to do so would breach a professional obligation of confidentiality concerning the affairs of a client of the judge, but the general fact of such activity shall be reported. (4) Campaign contributions received and duly reported as required by law by a judge of probate as a candidate for that office need not be reported under this Canon.Adopted July 1, 2015, effective 9/1/2015.Advisory Notes - 2015
Canon 6 is unchanged from Canon 6 in the 1993 Code, except to add references to domestic partners and to change cross-references to other Canons to reflect the new organization of Canons 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the new Code of Judicial Conduct.
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