This measure creates two new offices inside the Supreme Court: an Office of Ethics Counsel and an Office of Investigative Counsel. The Office of Ethics Counsel will provide advice and guidance to justices and their spouses on ethics topics such as financial disclosure, gifts, political activity, conflicts of interest, recusal, and handling of nonpublic Court documents. The Chief Justice may appoint a chief ethics counsel and that chief may appoint other counsels. Ethics counsels must be licensed lawyers with at least 5 years of experience, may not already be Court employees when appointed, serve limited terms (generally up to two 6-year terms for ethics counsels), and have minimum annual pay levels specified in the text.
The Office of Investigative Counsel will review and investigate certain ethics complaints about justices and their spouses or dependents. That office will have a Chief Investigative Counsel and at least two additional investigative counsels. Investigative counsels must be licensed lawyers with at least 7 years of experience, may not already be Court employees when appointed, and the Chief Investigative Counsel generally serves a single 6-year term.
The Investigative Office has subpoena authority to require witnesses and documents, and may ask a federal district court to enforce subpoenas. Eligible ethics complaints may be filed only by specific congressional leaders or committee leaders named in the text (for example, certain chairs or leaders). The office must review a filed complaint within 60 days and, if a full investigation is appropriate, start it within 15 days. After an investigation, the office sends a report with findings and recommendations to the Chief Justice (or the most senior associate justice if the Chief Justice is the subject). The Chief Justice may release the report to the public without altering it except to redact classified or personally identifiable information. The Investigative Office must also make its report available to specified congressional committees and must inform the Attorney General if it has reasonable grounds to believe a federal crime occurred.
The measure also requires each justice to take a judicial ethics training course every two years, sets procedures for staffing and removal for cause, specifies minimum pay rates for the named positions, and includes a severability clause.
The text sets minimum annual pay rates for the named positions: at least $225,000 for chief counsels and at least $180,000 for other counsels. The Office of Investigative Counsel must include at least one chief and at least two additional counsels. The Office of Ethics Counsel may employ a chief ethics counsel and other counsels and staff as allowed under existing civil service rules. No publicly available information on total staffing levels, overall budget totals, or estimated annual costs is provided in the text.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.