§354 Action by Judicial Council

Summary

When the circuit's judicial council gets a report about a judge, it can investigate more, dismiss the complaint, or, if it keeps the complaint, take whatever steps it thinks are needed to keep the courts working well and quickly. Those steps can include temporarily stopping new case assignments to the judge, privately or publicly censuring or reprimanding the judge, and, for judges appointed to hold office during good behavior, certifying a disability or asking the judge to retire voluntarily without applying the usual length-of-service rule. For magistrate judges the council can tell the district’s chief judge what to do, and removals of magistrate or bankruptcy judges must follow their own rules. The council may not remove a judge appointed to hold office during good behavior. It may also send complaints and its recommendations to the Judicial Conference. The council must promptly give written notice to the person who complained and to the judge about any action, unless telling them would harm the interests of justice.