Opinion 03-61

September 4, 2003

Digest:         Subject to any applicable provision of the Election Law, a judge who was actively raising funds to finance a campaign for re-election to a non-judicial office just prior to his/her appointment to the bench may return monies remaining in the judge’s campaign account pro rata only to those who most recently contributed to the judge’s campaign for re-election to a non-judicial office.

Rules:          22 NYCRR 100.5; Opinion 92-94 (Vol. X).

Opinion:

         Prior to accepting appointment to his/her judicial position, a judge had been actively raising funds to finance a campaign for re-election to a non-judicial office. The funds raised during the re-election campaign were added to funds in a campaign account that the judge had been using since he/she first was elected to the non-judicial office more than five years ago. The current balance in the campaign account is less than the total amount raised for the re-election to the non-judicial office. The judge asks whether it is permissible to return the monies remaining in the campaign account pro rata only to those who most recently made contributions in support of the judge’s campaign for re-election to that office.

         This Committee has previously advised that a candidate for judicial office should return unexpended campaign funds from prior political campaigns to the original donors on a pro-rata basis. Opinion 92-94 (Vol. X). In the present inquiry, because the balance in the judge’s campaign account is less than the total amount raised in support of the judge’s most recent re-election campaign, contributors to earlier campaign efforts could not reasonably expect to have an interest in those funds. Subject to any applicable provision of the Election Law, therefore, it is the Committee’s view that the judge may return the monies remaining in the campaign account pro rata only to those who most recently contributed to the campaign. This be should done as soon as practicable, so as to avoid any claim that the judge is engaged in prohibited political activity. 22 NYCRR 100.5.