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JUDICIAL INVESTIGATION COMMISSION
ADVISORY OPINIONS

In 2021, the Judicial Investigation Commission decided to update the JIC Advisory Opinion Website. All relevant opinions were redacted to remove the identifying information of the requestor and uploaded in their entirety to the website. Importantly, they are now searchable by assigned number, topic and/or Code provision. Obsolete opinions were identified and retired.

Numbers were given to each advisory opinion. The number to the left of the hyphen (-) represents the year in which the advisory opinion was written. The number to the right of the hyphen (-) is the actual opinion number. New topics were created, and each advisory opinion was ascribed one or more for ease of reference. Lengthy summaries were reduced to questions(s) presented and applicable Code Rules have been listed to the right of them. Not every advisory opinion contains a Rule.

Beginning with JIC AO 2015-23 through the current advisory opinion, the Rules cited pertain to the West Virginia Code of Judicial Conduct in effect from December 1, 2015 to the present time. Beginning with JIC Advisory Opinion 1993-02 through JIC Advisory Opinion 2015-19, the Rules cited pertain to the Code in effect from January 1, 1993 through November 30, 2015. Beginning with JIC Advisory Opinion 1985-01 through JIC Advisory Opinion 1992-23, the Rules cited pertain to the Code in effect from January 1, 1973 through December 31, 1992.

Retired Advisory Opinions from 6/6/2023

Retired Advisory Opinions from 12/10/2021

Old to new code conversion

Advisory Opinion Topic Words

 

Complaint Number Topic Question/Code Reference
2000-27 disclosure/disqualification and staff

Is a family court judge per se disqualified from presiding over pending cases when he/she has hired a lawyer’s only paralegal as his/her case coordinator? [3E(1)]
2000-26 campaign activities and staff

Can a sitting magistrate campaign for his/her assistant who is running for magistrate? [5A(1)]
2000-25 campaign activities and signs

Can a judge give old campaign signs to another individual for potential use in his/her campaign for office if they are completely covered by the individual’s campaign materials? [None]
2000-24 campaign activities and expert witness

Can a judicial candidate continue to serve as an expert witness in insurance cases during the pendency of the campaign? [5A(3)(b)(ii)]
2000-23 campaign activities, donation and campaign committee

Can the leftover balance in a judicial campaign account be contributed to a political committee of a state candidate for political office? [5C(2)]
2000-21 senior status and campaign activities

Is a judge who is senior status and/or fully retired from the bench prohibited from engaging in campaign activities? [6B]
2000-20 appearance of impropriety/impropriety

Can a family court judge’s spouse mediate cases that the judge presides over? [2A]
2000-19 judicial duties

Can a magistrate serve as a backup mental hygiene commissioner? [None]
2000-18 campaign activities, campaign committee and treasurer

Is an unopposed judicial candidate required to have a campaign committee and/or treasurer if he/she does not intend engage in any campaign activities? [5C(2)]
2000-16 campaign activities and state seal

Can a judicial candidate use the state seal in his/her campaign materials? [2B]