Rule 4.5 Activities of Judges Who Become Candidates for Nonjudicial Office

If a judge decides to run for an elected position that isn't a judicial job, they have to give up their position as judge first. The only exception is if a specific law says they're allowed to keep their judicial job while running for that other office.

The rule works a bit differently if a judge is nominated for a non-judicial job that isn't decided by election, but instead by appointment. In that case, the judge must resign from their judicial position as soon as they get the nomination, with no exceptions. This is stricter than the general rule used in many other states, which sometimes lets judges stay on the bench while waiting to see if they get an appointed position.

The basic idea behind this rule is to prevent judges from mixing politics with their judicial duties. It keeps judges from using their court position to help their political campaigns, and it avoids the awkward situation of a judge trying to hold two different roles at once.