2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes Article 30 - Judicial Standards Commission.

Article 30.

Judicial Standards Commission.

§ 7A‑375.� Judicial Standards Commission.

(a)������ The Judicial Standards Commission shall consist of: one Court of Appeals judge, one superior court judge, and one district court judge, each appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; two members of the State Bar who have actively practiced in the courts of the State for at least 10 years, elected by the State Bar Council; and two citizens who are not judges, active or retired, nor members of the State Bar, appointed by the Governor. The Court of Appeals judge shall act as chair of the Commission.

(b)������ Terms of Commission members shall be for six years, except that, to achieve overlapping of terms, one of the judges, one of the practicing members of the State Bar, and one of the citizens shall be appointed initially for a term of only three years.� No member who has served a full six‑year term is eligible for reappointment.� If a member ceases to have the qualifications required for his appointment, he ceases to be a member. Vacancies are filled in the same manner as the original appointment, for the remainder of the term.� Members who are not judges are entitled to per diem and all members are entitled to reimbursement for travel and subsistence expenses at the rate applicable to members of State boards and commissions generally, for each day engaged in official business.

(c)������ If a member of the Commission who is a judge becomes disabled, or becomes a respondent before the Commission, the Chief Justice shall appoint an alternate member to serve during the period of disability or disqualification.� The alternate member shall be from the same division of the General Court of Justice as the judge whose place he takes.� If a member of the Commission who is not a judge becomes disabled, the Governor, if he appointed the disabled member, shall appoint, or the State Bar Council, if it elected the disabled member, shall elect, an alternate member to serve during the period of disability.� In a particular case, if a member disqualifies himself, or is successfully challenged for cause, his seat for that case shall be filled by an alternate member selected as provided in this subsection.

(d)������ A member may serve after expiration of his term only to participate until the conclusion of a formal proceeding begun before expiration of his term. Such participation shall not prevent his successor from taking office, but the successor may not participate in the proceeding for which his predecessor's term was extended. This subsection shall apply also to any judicial member whose membership on the Commission is automatically terminated by retirement or resignation from judicial office, or expiration of the term of judicial office. (1971, c. 590, s. 1; 1973, c. 50; 1975, c. 956, s. 13; 1997‑72, s. 1.)

 

§ 7A‑376.� Grounds for censure or removal.

Upon recommendation of the Commission, the Supreme Court may censure or remove any judge for willful misconduct in office, willful and persistent failure to perform his duties, habitual intemperance, conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude, or conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute. Upon recommendation of the Commission, the Supreme Court may remove any judge for mental or physical incapacity interfering with the performance of his duties, which is, or is likely to become, permanent. A judge removed for mental or physical incapacity is entitled to retirement compensation if he has accumulated the years of creditable service required for incapacity or disability retirement under any provision of State law, but he shall not sit as an emergency justice or judge. A judge removed for other than mental or physical incapacity receives no retirement compensation, and is disqualified from holding further judicial office. (1971, c. 590, s. 1; 1979, c. 486, s. 2.)

 

§ 7A‑377.� Procedures; employment of executive secretary, special counsel or investigator.

(a)������ Any citizen of the State may file a written complaint with the Commission concerning the qualifications or conduct of any justice or judge of the General Court of Justice, and thereupon the Commission shall make such investigation as it deems necessary. The Commission may also make an investigation on its own motion. The Commission is authorized to issue process to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence, to administer oaths, to punish for contempt, and to prescribe its own rules of procedure. No justice or judge shall be recommended for censure or removal unless he has been given a hearing affording due process of law. Unless otherwise waived by the justice or judge involved, all papers filed with and proceedings before the Commission, including any preliminary investigation which the Commission may make, are confidential, except as provided herein. After the preliminary investigation is completed, and if the Commission concludes that formal proceedings should be instituted, the notice and complaint filed by the Commission, along with the answer and all other pleadings, are not confidential. Formal hearings ordered by the Commission are not confidential, and recommendations of the Commission to the Supreme Court, along with the record filed in support of such recommendations are not confidential. Testimony and other evidence presented to the Commission is privileged in any action for defamation. At least five members of the Commission must concur in any recommendation to censure or remove any justice or judge. A respondent who is recommended for censure or removal is entitled to a copy of the proposed record to be filed with the Supreme Court, and if he has objections to it, to have the record settled by the Commission. He is also entitled to present a brief and to argue his case, in person and through counsel, to the Supreme Court. A majority of the members of the Supreme Court voting must concur in any order of censure or removal. The Supreme Court may approve the recommendation, remand for further proceedings, or reject the recommendation. A justice of the Supreme Court or a member of the Commission who is a judge is disqualified from acting in any case in which he is a respondent.

(b)������ The chair of the Commission is authorized to employ an executive secretary to assist the Commission in carrying out its duties. For specific cases, the Commission may also employ special counsel or call upon the Attorney General to furnish counsel. For specific cases, the Commission may also employ an investigator or call upon the Director of the State Bureau of Investigation to furnish an investigator. While performing duties for the Commission such executive secretary, special counsel or investigator shall have authority throughout the State to serve subpoenas or other process issued by the Commission in the same manner and with the same effect as an officer authorized to serve process of the General Court of Justice. (1971, c. 590, s. 1; 1973, c. 808; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 995, s. 2; 1997‑72, s. 2.)

 

§ 7A‑378.� Censure or removal of justice of Supreme Court.

(a)������ The recommendation of the Judicial Standards Commission for censure or removal of any justice of the Supreme Court for any grounds provided by G.S. 7A‑376 shall be made to, and the record filed with, the Court of Appeals, which shall have and shall proceed under the same authority for censure or removal of any justice as is granted to the Supreme Court under G.S. 7A‑376 and 7A‑377(a) for censure or removal of any judge.

(b)������ The proceeding shall be heard by a panel of the Court of Appeals consisting of the Chief Judge, who shall be the presiding judge of the panel, and six other judges, the senior in service, excluding the judge who is chairman of the commission. For good cause, a judge may be excused by a majority of the panel. If the Chief Judge is excused, the presiding judge shall be designated by a majority of the panel. The vacancy created by an excused judge shall be filled by the judge of the court who is next senior in service. (1979, c. 486, s. 1.)

 

§§ 7A‑379 through 7A‑399.� Reserved for future codification purposes.