Opinion 88-88

October 5, 1988

Dear Judge

         This is in response to your letter of June 29,1988, in which you inquire whether you may serve on the Board of Directors of a not-for-profit corporation, the XXXXXX Institute, Inc., a training school run by a union.

         Section 100.5 (b) of the Rules of the Chief Administrator of the Courts states that:

A judge may participate in civic and charitable activities that do not reflect adversely upon impartiality or interfere with the performance of judicial duties. A judge may serve as an officer, director, trustee or nonlegal advisor of an educational, religious, charitable, fraternal or civic organization not conducted for the economic or political advantage of its members, subject to the following limitations:

(1) A judge shall not serve if it is likely that the organization will be engaged in proceedings that would ordinarily come before him or her or will be regularly engaged in adversary proceedings in any court.

(2) No judge shall solicit funds for any educational, religious, charitable, fraternal or civic organization, or use or permit the use of the prestige of the office for that purpose, but may be listed as an officer, director or trustee of such an organization, provided, however, that no such listing shall be used in connection with any solicitation of funds. No judge shall be a speaker or the guest of honor at an organization’s fundraising events, but he or she may attend such events. Nothing in this Part shall be deemed to prohibit a judge from being a speaker or guest of honor at a bar association function.

You may serve on the Board of Directors of this corporation, provided that you do not participate in any fundraising activities.

         This opnion is advisory only and does not bind either the Office of Court Administration or the Commission on Judicial Conduct.