M. Code Jud. Conduct Canon 6

A judge shall file annual financial disclosure reports.

To avoid actual or apparent conflicts of interest, and to assure compliance

with Rule 2.11 and the requirements of Canon 3, a judge is required to file initial

and annual financial disclosure reports to which the public has access. This

requirement is a rule of reason and should not be interpreted to intrude

unnecessarily on the privacy of a judge or others, including spouses, domestic

partners, or dependent children of judges. Nevertheless, the specific disclosure

requirements of this Canon are minimum standards and are not intended to be

all-inclusive. In case of doubt about whether a particular disclosure is

necessary to serve the purposes of this Canon, the decision should be in favor

of disclosure.

A. Filing Required.

(1) Upon initial appointment or election to the judiciary of the State

of Maine, a judge shall make a financial disclosure report to the

Chief Justice containing the information set forth in section

B(1)(e)-(j) of this Canon, and any information respecting a spouse,

domestic partner, or dependent child required under section

B(2)(c)-(d) of this Canon, as of the date of the report. The report

shall be filed with the Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court

not more than 60 days after the date upon which the judge takes

the oath of office.

(2) A judge who holds office for more than 60 days in any calendar

year shall make a financial disclosure report to the Chief Justice

containing the information required by section B of this Canon for

the portion of that year in which the judge held office. The report

shall be filed with the Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court

on or before May 15 of the succeeding year.

(3) All reports required to be filed by this section shall be made on

forms that the Supreme Judicial Court shall adopt, and may from

time to time amend, by administrative order. The forms shall be

distributed by the Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court.

(4) The Chief Justice may, for good cause shown, grant an extension

of the time to file any report required by this section for a period

not to exceed 90 days.

(5) Disclosure of a judge’s income, investments, liabilities, or other

financial interests is required only to the extent provided in this

Canon and Rule 2.11.

B. Contents of the Report.

(1) Each report filed pursuant to subsection A(2) of this Canon shall

contain the following information for the period for which the

report is filed:

(a) The source and type of any income received in money or

in kind having a value in excess of $1,000 in the aggregate

from any single source.

(b) The source and a brief description of any honoraria

received.

(c) The source and a brief description of any gift, bequest, or

favor received in money or in kind having a value in excess of

$300 in the aggregate from any single source, not including

gifts, bequests, or favors that may be accepted pursuant to

Rule 3.13(B)(2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8).

(d) The source and a brief description of any reimbursement

or payment received in money or in kind by the judge for the

judge’s own expenses or those of a spouse, domestic partner,

or dependent child in excess of $300 per person in the

aggregate from any single source, not including

reimbursement or payment of the judge’s expenses by the

State of Maine or a political subdivision thereof.

(e) A brief description of any interest in real property held at

any time during the year.

(f) A brief description of any interest in tangible or intangible

personal property exceeding $1,000 in value and held at any

time during the year in a trade or business or for investment

or the production of income, provided that a personal

indebtedness owed by a relative need not be reported.

(g) The identity and a brief description of any indebtedness

or other liability exceeding $1,000 in the aggregate owed at

any time during the year to any single creditor, not including

(i) alimony, child support, and separate maintenance

obligations; (ii) any loan from a relative; (iii) any mortgage

or other loan held by a lending institution and secured by real

property that is a personal residence of the judge or by a

personal motor vehicle or other tangible personal property,

provided that the loan is one made in the regular course of

business on the same terms generally available to persons

who are not judges; and (iv) any credit card or revolving

charge account, or similar credit arrangement, not in arrears

on the final date of the reporting period.

(h) The identity of any position held at any time during the

year as a fiduciary of a trust, estate, or person or as an officer,

director, trustee, partner, proprietor, representative,

employee, or consultant of a business or nonprofit

enterprise.

(i) The title, court, and docket number of litigation pending

at any time during the year in which the judge is a

party-in-interest, not including suits against the judge for

acts in an official capacity.

(j) The identity of any pension or other retirement or

disability plan from which the judge has received at any time

during the year, or may become eligible to receive, benefits,

not including any plan administered by a state or the federal

government.

(2) Each report filed as required by this Canon shall separately set

forth, to the extent known by the judge or ascertainable by

reasonable inquiry, the following information respecting the

spouse, domestic partner, or any dependent child of the judge:

(a) Under section B(1)(a), the type of economic activity

representing each source of income of $1,000 or more

received by a spouse, domestic partner, or dependent child.

(b) Under section B(1)(b), (c), and (d), honoraria, gifts,

bequests, favors, and expense reimbursements or payments

received by a spouse, domestic partner, or dependent child

that are received jointly with the judge or solely as a result of

the recipient’s relationship to the judge.

(c) Under section B(1)(e), (f), (g), and (j), property interests;

liabilities; and pension, retirement or disability plans of a

spouse, domestic partner, or dependent child that

(i) are held jointly with the judge;

(ii) are derived or payable from the income, assets, or

activities of the judge; or

(iii) provide, or are expected to provide, any

substantial financial or economic benefit or detriment

to the judge.

(d) Under section B(1)(h), the identity of any fiduciary or

other position held jointly with the judge, or held in

connection with an interest or enterprise from which the

judge receives, or may be expected to receive, any substantial

financial or economic benefit.

(3) Upon the request of a judge and a showing of good cause for

nondisclosure, the Chief Justice may order that specific information

required to be reported under this Canon shall be treated as

confidential. Such information shall be omitted from the judge’s

report with a note stating that the omission is pursuant to the order

of the Chief Justice. The omitted information shall be set forth in an

appendix to the report. The request for nondisclosure and the

appendix shall thereafter be retained by the Executive Clerk of the

Supreme Judicial Court in a confidential file for the period for which

the report is retained under section C(1) of this Canon. The request

and appendix shall not be available for public inspection under

section C(2).

(4) An item that is required to be described under subsection 1 of

this section is sufficiently described if the report lists the type of

any asset or liability and the name and principal type of economic

activity of any individual or entity that is (a) the source of any

income or other benefit received, (b) a debtor or other party liable

for satisfaction of the judge’s interest in any intangible asset held,

or (c) a creditor on any liability owed. The report need not specify

the amount or value of any income, benefit, asset, or liability.

C. Public Access.

(1) The Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court shall retain

all reports filed under this Canon on file for a period of six years

from the date of filing.

(2) Except as provided in section B(3) of this Canon, the Executive

Clerk shall permit any person to inspect a report on file and shall

furnish a copy of such report to any person for a fee reflecting the

actual cost of reproduction and mailing.

D. Failure to File. The Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court

shall review all reports filed within 45 days of the filing deadline and shall

promptly notify any judge who has failed to file a report or provide

complete information. A copy of the notification shall be sent to the Chief

Justice. If a judge does not, within 15 days of such notification, file the

required report or information or receive an extension of the filing

deadline under section A(4) of this Canon, the Executive Clerk shall refer

the matter to the Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability for

appropriate action.

E. Judges of Probate. A judge of probate shall make initial and annual

financial disclosure reports to which the public has access as provided in

this Canon, with the following exceptions:

(1) A report of self-employment income under section B(1)(a) need

only specify the principal type of economic activity from which that

income is derived and, if the judge is associated with a partnership,

firm, professional association, or similar business entity, the name

and major areas of economic activity of that entity; provided that,

if the judge is a practicing lawyer, the major areas of practice of the

judge and any firm or other professional entity with which the

judge is associated shall also be reported.

(2) Honoraria, gifts, bequests, favors, and expense reimbursements

or payments need be reported under section B(1)(b)-(d) of this

Canon only if they are received by the judge in the course of, or as

a result of, activities undertaken in an official capacity or are

received from a party or other person whose interests have come

or are likely to come before the judge.

(3) The identity of a position held in the ordinary course of the

practice of law and reportable under section B(1)(h) need not be

reported if to do so would breach a professional obligation of

confidentiality concerning the affairs of a client of the judge, but the

general fact of such activity shall be reported.

(4) Campaign contributions received and duly reported as required

by law by a judge of probate as a candidate for that office need not

be reported under this Canon.