QUESTION: May a justice of the peace ethically obtain loans from a bank where he is an advisory director?

ANSWER: In Judicial Ethics Committee Opinions 37, 38, 42, 61, and 89 the Committee has stated that in its opinion a judge may not ethically serve as a director or advisory director of a bank or savings and loan association. Canon 8A of the Judicial Code of Conduct requires compliance with the Code by justices of the peace. Canon 9 provides that a person should arrange his or her affairs as soon as possible to comply with the provisions of the Code. The question of whether an advisory director of a bank may obtain loans from that bank requires a legal opinion. The function of the Judicial Ethics Committee is to write advisory opinions involving potential violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct, and not to give legal opinions. The Committee respectfully declines to answer the question.