Rule 51:3.13 Acceptance of Gifts, Loans, Bequests, Benefits, or Other Things of Value

(A) A judge, a judge’s spouse, a judge’s domestic partner, or a judge’s minor child shall not accept or solicit any gift, loan, bequest, benefit, or other thing of value, if acceptance is prohibited by law or would appear to a reasonable person to undermine the judge’s independence,* integrity,* or impartiality.*

(B) Unless prohibited by paragraph (A), a judge, a judge’s spouse, a judge’s domestic partner*, or a judge’s minor child may accept only the following gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, or other things of value if they are from a restricted donor:*

(1) items with little intrinsic value, such as plaques, certificates, trophies, and greeting cards;

(2) commercial or financial opportunities and benefits, including special pricing and discounts, and loans from lending institutions in their regular course of business, if the same opportunities and benefits or loans are made available on the same terms to similarly situated persons who are not judges;

(3) books, magazines, journals, audiovisual materials, and other resource materials supplied by publishers on a complimentary basis for official use;

(4) anything received from a person related within the fourth degree of kinship or marriage, unless the donor is acting as an agent or intermediary for another person not so related;

(5) an inheritance or bequest;

(6) nonmonetary items with a value of $3 or less that are received from any one donor during one calendar day;

(7) items or services solicited by or given to a state, national or regional organization in which the state of Iowa or a political subdivision of the state is a member;

(8) items or services received as part of a regularly scheduled event that is part of a conference, seminar or other meeting that is sponsored and directed by any state, national or regional organization in which the judicial branch is a member;

(9) funeral flowers or memorials to a church or non-profit organization; and

(10) gifts which are given to an official or employee for the official’s or the employee’s wedding or twenty-fifth or fiftieth wedding anniversary.

(C) Unless prohibited by paragraph (A), a judge, a judge’s spouse, a judge’s domestic partner, or a judge’s minor child may receive the following gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, or other things of value from a donor other than a restricted donor:

(1) gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, or other things of value from friends, relatives, or other persons, including lawyers, whose appearance or interest in a proceeding pending* or impending* before the judge would in any event require disqualification of the judge under rule 51:2.11;

(2) ordinary social hospitality;

(3) rewards and prizes given to competitors or participants in random drawings, contests, or other events that are open to persons who are not judges;

(4) scholarships, fellowships, and similar benefits or awards, if they are available to similarly situated persons who are not judges, based upon the same terms and criteria;

(5) gifts, awards, or benefits associated with the business, profession, or other separate activity of a spouse, a domestic partner,* or other family member of a judge residing in the judge’s household,* but that incidentally benefit the judge;

(6) gifts incident to a public testimonial;

(7) invitations to the judge and the judge’s spouse, domestic partner, or guest to attend without charge:

(a) an event associated with a bar-related function or other activity relating to the law, the legal system, the provision of legal services, or the administration of justice; or

(b) an event associated with any of the judge’s educational, religious, charitable, fraternal or civic activities permitted by the Iowa Code of Judicial Conduct, if the same invitation is offered to nonjudges who are engaged in similar ways in the activity as is the judge;

(8) contributions to the campaign committee of a judge, a judge’s spouse, or a judge’s domestic partner; and

(9) anything that can be given by a restricted donor under paragraph (B).