Rule 4 Hearings on Formal Charges

When a judge faces formal misconduct charges, a group called the Judicial Hearing Board holds a hearing to look at the case. This board is responsible for hearing the evidence and deciding what happened.

In some cases, the Judicial Hearing Board, the disciplinary counsel's office, and the judge who is accused (called the respondent) can all agree to use a hearing examiner instead. This person would run the hearing in place of the full board, but only if everyone involved agrees to this arrangement.