Opinion 24-130

September 12, 2024

Digest:  A support magistrate may serve as a youth baseball umpire for a local chapter of Little League.

Rules:   22 NYCRR 100.2; 100.2(A); 100.4(A)(1)-(3); 100.4(D)(3); 100.4(H)(1); 100.4(H)(1)(a); 100.6(A); Opinions 20-113; 20-02; 17-01; 12-24.

Opinion:

          A full-time support magistrate asks if they may accept a position as a youth baseball umpire for the local chapter of Little League.  This would be a paid independent contractor position outside of normal court hours.  Little League is a not-for-profit organized youth sports program with international, regional, district, and local centers providing opportunities for children to participate in baseball.

          Individuals who perform quasi-judicial functions within the court system, such as support magistrates, must comply with the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct in the performance of their judicial functions and shall use the Rules as a guide to their other conduct “so far as practical and appropriate” (22 NYCRR 100.6[A]).  A support magistrate must therefore always avoid even the appearance of impropriety (see 22 NYCRR 100.2) and act to promote public confidence in the judiciary’s integrity and impartiality (see 22 NYCRR 100.2[A]).  A support magistrate may not engage in extra-judicial activities that are incompatible with their office, cast reasonable doubt on their capacity to act impartially as a support magistrate, detract from the dignity of judicial office, or interfere with the proper performance of their quasi-judicial duties (see 22 NYCRR 100.4[A][1]-[3]).  While a full-time support magistrate may not serve as an “employee or other active participant of any business entity” (22 NYCRR 100.4[D][3]), they may receive compensation for permissible extra-judicial activities subject to certain limitations (see 22 NYCRR 100.4[H][1]).  For example, the payment source must not “give the appearance of influencing” the support magistrate’s performance of quasi-judicial duties or “otherwise give the appearance of impropriety” (id.) and the compensation “shall not exceed a reasonable amount nor shall it exceed what a person who is not a [full-time quasi-judicial official] would receive for the same activity” (22 NYCRR 100.4[H][1][a]).

          We have advised that a full-time judge may serve as a referee for school sports and non-profit leagues and may accept reasonable compensation that does not exceed what a person who is not a judge would receive for the same activity (see e.g. Opinions 20-113; 20-02; 17-01; 12-24).  As further explained in these opinions, such activity may not interfere with the judge’s judicial duties, and, as always, the judge may not engage in fund-raising or other prohibited conduct.

          Accordingly, we conclude that a support magistrate may likewise serve as a youth baseball umpire for the local chapter of Little League.