Opinion 87-29

January 28, 1988

Topic:          County judge is member of a county board coordinating services for developmentally disabled persons with the criminal justice system.

Digest:         A county judge may serve as a judicial member of a county board established to coordinate services for developmentally disabled persons involved with the criminal justice system.

Rules:          100.4(c)

Opinion:

         The question submitted is whether a county judge may serve as a judicial member of a county board, where th purpose of the board is to coordinate, under the auspices of the State Commissioner of Correction, services for developmentally disabled persons involved with the criminal justice system.

         The stated purpose of the board is “...effective utilization of local networks linking the major criminal justice and human services providers to better serve developmentally disabled offenders...” This is logically related to the improvement of the administration of justice.

         It is the consensus of the Committee that the judge may serve pursuant to section 100.4(c) of the Rules of the Chief Administrator of the Courts which in part reads as follows:

A judge may serve as a member, officer, director of an organization or governmental agency devoted to the improvement of the law, the legal system or the administration of justice.

         This Opinion is advisory only and is not binding upon either the Office of Court Administration or the Commission on Judicial Conduct.