All of the Justices concurring therein, it is hereby ORDERED, to be effective on July 5, 1978. The Order was amended by orders that took effect on August 21, 1978, December 11, 1981, March 7, 1983, November 15, 1983, December 1, 1984, August 18, 1987, May 13, 1993, August 1, 1994, October 1, 1998, January 1, 2001, and November 10, 2015, and is hereby further amended, effective July 1, 2018, and is hereby further amended, effective November 12, 2019, to provide as follows:
1. There is hereby established a Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability consisting of seven members appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court. Two members shall be either active or active retired justices of the Superior Court, active or active retired judges of the District Court, or active judges of probate. At no time shall the two judiciary members be members of the same court. Two members shall be attorneys at law admitted to practice in the State of Maine, and three members shall be representatives of the general public of the State of Maine and shall not be attorneys or members of the judiciary. The public and attorney members shall be appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court upon the recommendation of the Governor. 2. The term of each member shall be for six years, except that initial appointments shall be as follows in order to achieve staggered terms: A. One judiciary member shall be appointed for a six-year term, and the other judiciary member shall be appointed for a four-year term; B. One attorney member shall be appointed to a four-year term, and one attorney member shall be appointed to a two-year term; C. One public member shall be appointed to a six year term, the second public member shall be appointed to a four-year term, and the third public member shall be appointed to a two-year term; D. No member shall serve more than one term in office, provided that the members appointed to serve two years or less of an initial or unexpired term shall not be considered to have served the equivalent of a term for purposes of this section. 2A. Alternate members shall be appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court, each for a term of six years as follows: A. One alternate member who shall be either an active or an active retired justice of the Superior Court who shall serve whenever a member of the Committee from that Court has recused himself or is otherwise unavailable to participate in Committee action; B. One alternate member who shall be a judge or an active retired judge of the District court who shall serve whenever a member of the Committee from that Court has recused himself or is otherwise unavailable to participate in Committee action; C. One alternate member who shall be an attorney at law admitted to practice in the State of Maine who shall serve whenever an attorney member has recused himself or is otherwise unable to participate in Committee action; and D. One alternate member who shall be a representative of the general public of the State of Maine and not an attorney or a member of the judiciary who shall serve whenever a public member of the Committee has recused himself or is otherwise unable to participate in Committee actions. 3. The Committee may establish such offices, employ an Executive Secretary and counsel, and make arrangements for such secretarial and other assistance as the Committee shall reasonably require. 4. The Committee shall have an operating budget approved by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, and expenses of the Committee shall be paid from appropriations of funds to the Judicial Department through the budget of the state courts. 5. The Supreme Judicial court shall appoint a chairperson of the Committee and, from time to time, the Committee may designate from its members a vice chairperson and secretary. A quorum of the Committee shall consist of five members, and no action shall be taken by the Committee except by vote of a majority of the full Committee. 5A. The Committee shall make public any rules of general applicability adopted by it for the conduct of its operations under this Order. 6. The Committee shall receive complaints concerning the performance or misconduct of any judge on the Supreme Judicial Court, the Superior Court, the District Court, the Probate Courts or the Administrative Court. The Committee shall make an initial assessment of a complaint based on its content and on any further information from the complainant or from court records of cases involved in the complaint. In special circumstances where the nature of the allegations suggests that prior notice to the person complained against might create a significant risk of compromising the Committee's ability to obtain information necessary to accurately assess the complaint, the Committee may conduct a preliminary investigation, but not involving the use of subpoena power, and designed, to the extent practical, to preserve the confidentiality of the complaint and of the preliminary investigation. Unless the complaint is dismissed on the basis of information from the complainant, from the court records, or from any preliminary investigation, the Committee or its designee shall communicate the complaint to the person complained against and shall provide such person with a copy of any written complaint. The person complained against shall have reasonable opportunity to respond. The Committee shall conduct such further investigation as it deems fit. At any stage of such further investigation the Committee shall have subpoena power and may require a person to appear or produce evidence before the Committee, or before its counsel or other designee as designated by the Committee through its chairperson, and to provide evidence under oath. If the Committee determines that the complaint is unfounded, the Committee shall dismiss the matter, notifying the person complained against and any complainant of its actions. 6A. After receipt of a complaint, the Committee may direct its Executive Secretary to seek informal correction of any judicial conduct or practice, which the Committee determines may create an appearance of judicial misconduct. Any recommendation from the Committee or its Executive Secretary may be directed to the Chief Justice or other appropriate official of the Judicial Department. A recommendation for informal correction may be made at any stage of the proceedings but shall not necessarily preclude further action on the complaint. The Committee may in its discretion inform the complainant of any action taken under this provision. 7. The Committee shall hold a hearing at the request of a majority of the members of the Committee or of the person whose conduct is being investigated. At such hearing the person under investigation shall be entitled to counsel. The Committee shall have subpoena power, and every witness shall be sworn. The hearing shall be had before the Committee with a record. 8. All proceedings before the Committee shall be confidential, and no information shall be published by the Committee unless by order of the Supreme Judicial Court; except that: A. In connection with the consideration of the appointment of a person who is or has been a judge, the Committee shall provide information on any complaints made against that person and the Committee's disposition thereof, upon written request from the Governor or the Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary or other appropriate legislative committee, or from a United States governmental agency or official authorized to consider and act upon the nomination or appointment of persons to United States government positions. B. Upon request of the person whose conduct is being investigated, or by majority vote of the Committee, after giving that person an opportunity to express his views on the question, any hearing held pursuant to paragraph 7 of this order shall be public. C. Information may be provide(i to the Board of Overseers of the Bar, the Grievance Commission, and Bar Counsel in connection with matters within their jurisdiction. D. Unless otherwise provided by law, any person who is the subject of a complaint to the Committee may disclose at any time any information contained in the complaint. 9. If after the completion of the Committee's investigation and hearing, if any, the Committee determines (A) that the person under investigation has been convicted of a crime, the nature of which casts into doubt his continued willingness to conform his conduct to the Code of Judicial Conduct as applicable or (B) that in fact the person has violated the Code as applicable and that the violation is of a serious nature so as to warrant formal disciplinary action, the Committee shall file a report of its findings with the Supreme Judicial Court together with a statement of the alleged charges, a recommendation as to action by the Court, the transcript of any hearing, and any exhibits considered by the Committee. Any further proceedings shall be before the Court and shall be public.10. If after completion of the Committee's investigation and hearing, if any, the Committee determines that the person under investigation is suffering from a disability which materially affects his or her ability to perform his or her duties as a judge, the Committee shall file a report of its findings with the Supreme Judicial Court, together with a recommendation as to action, the transcript of any hearings, and any exhibits considered by the Commiitee. 11. The Committee shall have no responsibility or authority with respect to retirement by reason of failing health initiated by the judge or on his or her behalf. 12. Members of the Committee and its staff shall be immune from liability for all conduct in the course of their official duties relating directly or indirectly to discipline and the rules of the Court and the Committee governing the Committee's operation and proceedings. In the absence of malice, a complainant and any witness shall be immune from liability based upon the filing of a complaint or the giving of any testimony in a proceeding before the Committee. Effective 7/5/1978; amended 8/21/1978; 12/11/1981; 3/7/1983; 11/15/1983; 12/1/1984; amended effective 8/18/1987;5/13/1993;8/1/1994;10/1/1998;1/1/2001;5/1/2004; amended November 12, 2019, effective 11/12/2019.