Judge May Accept Reimbursement

A Massachusetts judge who presides in a drug court that is underwritten by a Department of Justice grant attended a required training session that involved out-of-state travel. The judge's expenses were reimbursed. The judge sought an ethics opinion on the propriety of the reimbursement. The Committee on Judicial Ethics issued an opinion concluding that: (1)no provision of the Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits such reimbursement and (2) the employees who conduct the training "do not routinely appear in the drug court as adversaries, litigants, or entities to which [the judge] may award income-producing business." The grant required the judge to attend the training and the reimbursement does not  create any appearence of impropriety. (Mike Frisch)