Terminology
As used in Canons 1 to 3 of this Code:
"Appropriate authority" means the authority having responsibility for initiation of disciplinary process in connection with the violation to be reported. See Rule 2.15.
"Contribution" means both financial and in-kind contributions, such as goods, professional or volunteer services, advertising, and other types of assistance, which, if obtained by the recipient otherwise, would require a financial expenditure. See Rule 3.7.
"De minimis," in the context of interests pertaining to disqualification of a judge, means an insignificant interest that could not raise a reasonable question regarding the judge's impartiality. See Rule 2.11.
"Domestic partner" means a person with whom another person maintains a household and an intimate relationship, other than a person to whom he or she is legally married. See Rules 2.11, 3.13, and 3.14.
"Economic interest" means ownership of more than a de minimis legal or equitable interest. Except for situations in which the judge participates in the management of such a legal or equitable interest or the interest could be substantially affected by the outcome of a proceeding before a judge, "economic interest" does not include any of the following:
See Rules 1.3, 2.11, and 3.2.
"Ex parte communication" means a communication, concerning a pending or impending matter, between counsel or an unrepresented party and the court when opposing counsel or an unrepresented party is not present or any other communication made to the judge outside the presence of the parties or their lawyers. See Rule 2.9.
"Fiduciary" includes relationships such as executor, administrator, trustee, or guardian. See Rules 2.11, 3.2, and 3.8.
"Impartial," "impartiality," and "impartially" mean absence of bias or prejudice in favor of, or against, particular parties or classes of parties, as well as maintenance of an open mind in considering issues that may come before a judge. See Canons 1 and 2 and Rules 1.2, 2.2, 2.10, 2.11, 2.13, 3.1, 3.7, 3.12, 3.13, and 3.14.
"Impending" references a matter or proceeding that is imminent or expected to occur in the near future. See Rules 2.9, 2.10, and 3.13.
"Impropriety" includes conduct that violates the law, court rules, or provisions of this code, and conduct that undermines a judge's independence, integrity, or impartiality. See Canon 1 and Rule 1.2.
"Independence" means a judge's freedom from influence or controls other than those established by law. See Canon 1 and Rules 1.2, 3.1, 3.7, 3.12, 3.13, and 3.14.
"Integrity" means probity, fairness, honesty, uprightness, and soundness of character. See Canon 1 and Rules 1.2, 3.1, 3.7, 3.12, 3.13, and 3.14.
"Judicial candidate" has the same meaning as in Rule 4.6. See Rule 2.11.
"Knowingly," "knowledge," "known," and "knows" mean actual knowledge of the fact in question. A person's knowledge may be inferred from circumstances. See Rules 2.11, 2.15, 2.16, 3.5, and 3.6.
"Law" encompasses court rules, including this code and the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct, statutes, constitutional provisions, and decisional law. See Rules 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.6, 2.7, 2.9, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 3.7, 3.9, 3.12, and 3.13.
"Member of the judge's family" means a spouse, domestic partner, child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, or other relative or person with whom the judge maintains a close familial relationship. See Rules 3.7, 3.8, 3.10, and 3.11.
"Member of a judge's family residing in the judge's household" means any relative of a judge by blood or marriage, or a person treated by a judge as a member of the judge's family, who resides in the judge's household. See Rules 2.11 and 3.13.
"Nonpublic information" means information that is not available to the public. Nonpublic information may include, but is not limited to, information that is sealed by statute or court order or impounded or communicated in camera, and information offered in grand jury proceedings, presentencing reports, dependency cases, or psychiatric reports. See Rule 3.5.
"Pending" references a matter or proceeding that has commenced. A matter continues to be pending through any appellate process until final disposition. See Rules 2.9, 2.10, and 3.13.
"Specialized docket" means a particular session of court that has received initial or final certification from the Supreme Court pursuant to Rule 36.24 or 36.26 of the Rules of Superintendence of the Courts of Ohio. "Specialized docket" includes, but is not limited to, drug courts, mental health courts, domestic violence courts, child support enforcement courts, sex offender courts, OVI courts, and reentry courts. Courts created in the Ohio Constitution or Revised Code, including appellate courts, common pleas courts, and divisions of a common pleas court, municipal courts, and county courts are not, without more, a specialized docket. See Rule 2.9.
"Third degree of relationship" includes the following persons: great-grandparent, grandparent, parent, uncle, aunt, brother, sister, child, grandchild, great-grandchild, nephew, and niece. See Rule 2.11.
Comparison to Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct
The words and phrases defined in the Terminology section are comparable to those found in the corresponding section of the Ohio Code, with the following exceptions:
"Appropriate authority," "contribution," "domestic partner," "ex parte communication," "impartial," "impending matter," "impropriety," "independence," "integrity," "judicial candidate," "pending matter," and "specialized docket" are newly defined terms;
The Ohio Code definition of "court personnel" is not included in the Terminology section.
Comparison to ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct
The following modifications are made to the ABA Terminology section:
The definition of "aggregate" is stricken, due to the deletion of Rule 2.11(A)(4), and moved to Rule 4.6;
The definition of "judicial candidate" is modified to reference the definition in Rule 4.6;
The definition of "law" is modified to reference specifically the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct and the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct;
The definitions of "member of the candidate's family," "personally solicit," "political organization," and "public election" are stricken because those terms are not used in Canons 1-3;
Definitions of "ex parte communication" and "specialized docket" are added to correspond to modifications made to Rules 2.9 and 2.11.