A judge may preside over criminal cases where the judge’s spouse serves as the executive director at a state attorney’s office but does not supervise any attorney appearing before the judge, according to the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee.

The advisory panel acted November 13 in Opinion Number: 2023-09. The inquiring judge currently presides over a docket that includes circuit and county criminal cases. The judge’s spouse, who is a lawyer, has been asked to serve as executive director of the state attorney’s office, an administrative post.

“The inquiring judge is aware of our past opinions that conclude that a judge’s spouse serving as a supervisor to any lawyer appearing before the judge would require disqualification,” the panel said. “Here, however, the judge advises the Executive Director’s job will not involve supervising any lawyers. Instead, the Executive Director is responsible for administrative functions including finance, human resources, information technology, supervising non-attorney staff, etc.”