Rule:    22 NYCRR 100.6(B)(4);
            Opinion 95-106 (Vol. XIII).
 
 

Opinion:

            A part-time judge seeks to be employed as a full-time dispatcher for the county Sheriff's Department. The judge asks whether such employment is ethically permissible.

            Under the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct, a part-time judge may accept employment in a federal, state or municipal department or agency, provided that such employment is not incompatible with judicial office and does not interfere with the proper performance of the judge's duties. 22 NYCRR 100.6(B)(4). This Committee has previously held that it is improper for a part-time judge to accept Civil Service employment as a 911 dispatcher in the same county in which the judge presides. Opinion 95-106 (Vol. XIII).

            The positions of judge and dispatcher in the Sheriff's Department are incompatible. A dispatcher will be continually involved with sheriff's activities on a local basis. The sheriff and his or her deputies will unquestionably be commencing proceedings in the judge's court, many of which may arise out of contacts with and through the dispatcher. In our opinion, a judge may not serve as a dispatcher for the county Sheriff's Department in the county in which the judge's court is located.