Senate Bill 2292

AN ACT TO ENACT THE JUDICIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN INTERVENTION ACT OF 2022; TO DEFINE TERMS; TO ESTABLISH THE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN INTERVENTION IN EVERY YEAR IN WHICH AN ELECTION IS HELD FOR SUPREME COURT, COURT OF APPEALS, CHANCERY COURT, CIRCUIT COURT OR COUNTY COURT JUDGE IN THIS STATE; TO PRESCRIBE THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE AND PROVIDE FOR ITS ORGANIZATION; TO AUTHORIZE THE COMMITTEE TO ALLEVIATE UNETHICAL AND UNFAIR CAMPAIGN PRACTICES IN JUDICIAL ELECTIONS; TO AUTHORIZE THE COMMITTEE TO RENDER FORMAL OPINIONS; TO REQUIRE THE COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE TO ASSIST THE COMMITTEE; TO AMEND SECTION 9-19-21, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "The Judicial Election Campaign Intervention Act of 2022."

SECTION 2. For purposes of this act, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Commission on Judicial Performance" or "commission" shall mean the commission established by Title 9, Chapter 19, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(b) "Special Committee on Judicial Election Campaign Intervention" or "committee" shall mean the committee established by this act.

SECTION 3. Establishment. (1) In every year in which an election is held for Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, chancery court, circuit court or county court judge in this state and at such other times as the Supreme Court may deem appropriate, the Committee on Judicial Election Campaign Intervention shall be created whose responsibility shall be to issue advisory opinions and to deal expeditiously with allegations of ethical misconduct in campaigns for judicial office.

(2) Each special committee shall be appointed no later than December 15 in the year prior to their service, and it shall continue in existence for ninety (90) days following such judicial elections or for so long thereafter as is necessary to consider matters submitted to it within such time.

SECTION 4. Committee membership. (1) The committee shall consist of the following members:

(a) One (1) member appointed by the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court;

(b) One (1) member appointed by the Senior Justice of District 1 of the Mississippi Supreme Court;

(d) One (1) member appointed by the Senior Justice of District 1 of the Mississippi Supreme Court;

(e) One (1) member appointed by the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of Mississippi.

(2) All members shall be attorneys licensed to practice in the state. No person shall be appointed to serve as a member of a special committee for the year in which such person is a candidate for judicial office, or is connected to a candidate for judicial office by affinity or consanguinity.

(3) Members shall not publicly endorse judicial candidates or contribute funds to judicial campaign committees. Members are subject to the conflict of interest and recusal provisions set forth in the Code of Judicial Conduct.

(4) (a) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall not be considered for purposes of calculating seniority under subsection (1)(b) through (d) of this section.

(b) If the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court expects to be a candidate for judicial office during the year for which a special committee is to be appointed, the appointment which otherwise would have been made by the chief justice shall be made by the next Senior Justice of the Supreme Court who is not otherwise charged with appointing authority under this section and is not seeking judicial office in such year.

(c) If a Senior Justice of Supreme Court District 1, 2 or 3, excluding the chief justice, expects to be a candidate for judicial office during such a year, the next Senior Justice of the same Supreme Court District who is not otherwise charged with appointing authority and is not seeking judicial office shall make the appointment.

(d) Should the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals for the State of Mississippi expect to be a candidate for judicial office during such a year, the next Senior Judge of the Court of Appeals who is not seeking judicial office shall make the appointment.

SECTION 5. Quorum and purpose. (1) Any action taken by the committee shall require a majority vote. The commission shall provide administrative support to the committee. Should any appointing authority fail to make an appointment, three (3) members shall constitute a sufficient number to conduct the business of the committee.

(2) The purpose of the committee shall be to alleviate unethical and unfair campaign practices in judicial elections, and to that end, the committee shall have the following authority:

(a) Notice of candidacy. (i) Within ten (10) days of the effective date of this act or within ten (10) days after formally announcing and/or officially qualifying for election or reelection to any judicial office in this state, whichever is later, all candidates, including incumbent judges, shall forward notice of such candidacy to the Commission on Judicial Performance.

(ii) The notice of candidacy in paragraph (a)(i) of this subsection shall include a mailing address, telephone number and email address of both the candidate and the candidate's committee chair.

(b) Candidate materials. Upon receipt of such notice, the committee shall, through the commission, make available electronically or cause to be distributed to all such candidates copies of the following: Canon 5 of the Code of Judicial Conduct; summaries of any previous opinions issued by the committee, committees organized for prior elections, or the Supreme Court of Mississippi, which relate in any way to campaign conduct and practices.

(c) Election seminar. Persons who seek to have their name placed on the ballot as candidates for such judicial offices and the judicial candidates' election committee chairpersons, or the chairperson's designee, shall no later than twenty (20) days after the qualifying date for candidates in the year in which they seek to run, complete a two-hour course on campaign practices, finance, and ethics sponsored and approved by the committee. Candidates without opposition are exempt from attending the course.

SECTION 6. Opinions. (1) In the event of a question relating to conduct during a judicial campaign, judicial candidates, their campaign organizations, and all independent persons, committees and organizations are encouraged to seek an opinion from the committee before such conduct occurs.

(2) Opinions as to the propriety of any act or conduct by a judicial candidate, a candidate's campaign organization or an independent person, committee or organization conducting activities which impact on the election and as to the construction or application of Canon 5 may be provided by the special committee upon request from any judicial candidate, campaign organization or an independent person, committee or organization.

(3) If the committee finds the question of limited significance, it may provide an informal opinion to the questioner.

(4) If, the committee finds the questions of sufficient general interest and importance, it shall render a formal opinion, in which event it shall cause the opinion to be published in complete or synopsis form.

(5) The committee may issue formal opinions on its own motion under such circumstances, as it finds appropriate.

(6) The committee may decline to issue an opinion when a majority of the special committee members determine that it would be inadvisable to respond to the request and to have so confirmed in writing their reasoning to the person who requested the opinion.

(7) All formal opinions of the special committee shall be filed with the Supreme Court and shall be a matter of public record except for the names of the persons involved, which shall be excised.

(8) Both formal and informal opinions shall be advisory only; however, the Commission on Judicial Performance, the Supreme Court and all other regulatory and enforcement authorities shall consider reliance by a judicial candidate upon the special committee opinion in any disciplinary or enforcement proceeding.

SECTION 7. Notice of authority. Upon receipt of a written allegation indicating a violation by a judicial candidate of any provision of Canon 5 during the course of a campaign for judicial office, or indicating actions by any person(s), committee(s) or organization(s) which are contrary to the limitations placed upon candidates by Canon 5, the commission staff shall immediately forward a copy of the allegation by email or U.S. mail to the committee members and the judicial candidate, and the committee shall:

(a) In a manner which comports with due process, provide the candidate with a list of provisions he or she is accused of violating, and provide the candidate an opportunity to respond.

(b) Seek, from the informing party and/or the subject of the information, such further information on the allegations as it deems necessary.

SECTION 8. Action. The committee may:

(a) Determine whether the allegations warrant speedy intervention and, if so, immediately issue a confidential cease-and-desist request to the candidate and/or organization or independent committee or organization believed to be engaging in unethical and/or unfair campaign practices. If the committee determines that the unethical and/or unfair campaign practice is of a serious and damaging nature, the committee may, in its discretion, disregard the issuance of a cease-and-desist request and immediately take action authorized by the provisions of paragraph (b)(i) and (ii) of this section. If the allegations of the complaint do not warrant intervention, the committee shall dismiss the same and so notify the complaining party.

(b) If a cease-and-desist request is disregarded or if the unethical or unfair campaign practices otherwise continue, the committee is further authorized:

(i) To immediately release to all appropriate media outlets, as well as the reporting party and the person and/or organization against whom the information is submitted, a public statement setting out the violations believed to exist, or, in the case of independent persons, committees or organizations, the actions by an independent person, committee or organization which are contrary to the limitations placed upon candidates by Canon 5. In the event that the violations or actions have continued after the imposition of the cease and desist request, the media release shall also include a statement that the candidate and/or organization or independent person, committee or organization has failed to honor the cease-and-desist request; and

(ii) To refer the matter to the commission or to any other appropriate regulatory or enforcement authority for such action as may be appropriate under the applicable rules.

SECTION 9. Informality and timing. All proceedings under this act shall be informal and nonadversarial, and the committee shall act on all requests within ten (10) days of receipt. In any event, the committee shall act as soon as possible taking into consideration the exigencies of the circumstances and, as to requests received during the last ten (10) days of the campaign, shall act within thirty-six (36) hours.

SECTION 10. Confidentiality. Except as herein specifically authorized, the proceedings of the special committee shall remain confidential, and in no event shall the special committee have the authority to institute disciplinary action against any candidate for judicial office, which power is specifically reserved to the Commission on Judicial Performance under applicable rules.

SECTION 11. Judicial performance. The committee shall after conclusion of the election distribute to the commission copies of all information and all proceedings relating thereto.

SECTION 12. Applicability. This act shall apply to all candidates for judicial offices of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, chancery courts, circuit courts and county courts, be they incumbent judges or not, and campaign/solicitation committees of all such candidates.

SECTION 13. Section 9-19-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

9-19-21. (1) The commission shall be entitled to compel by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses, including the judge as witness, and to provide for the inspection of documents, books, accounts and other records.

(2) If the commission, after investigation of a complaint, determines that there is sufficient evidence to warrant a hearing to determine whether or not there has been a violation under Section 177A, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, the commission may employ counsel to prepare and present the complaint to the commission, a committee of the commission, its master or its factfinder, and to represent the commission before the Supreme Court.

(3) The commission shall make transcripts of all hearings that are conducted under subsection (2) of this section. Such transcripts shall serve as a record in proceedings before the supreme court.

(4) On request of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate or the Governor, the commission shall make available information for use in consideration of impeachment or recall election, respectively.

(5) No records pertaining to complaints determined by the commission to be outside its jurisdiction shall be retained over twelve (12) months after such determination by the commission.

(6) The commission shall have the power necessary to effectuate the purposes of Sections 1 through 12 of this act.

SECTION 14. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.