A justice court judge has asked the Ethics Advisory Committee for its opinion as to when it is appropriate for a judge to receive compensation for the performance of a marriage ceremony.

Canon 4H(1)(c) of the Code of J Conduct provides:

A judge should not receive compensation for performing a marriage ceremony at the court during regular court hours. A judge may receive compensation for performing a marriage ceremony during non-court hours.

Although the Code only expressly prohibits receiving compensation for ceremonies performed at the court during regular court hours, the Committee believes that it is equally inappropriate for a judge to receive compensation for a ceremony performed at some other location during regular court hours. Canon 3A states in part, "[t]he judicial duties of a full-time judge take precedence over all the judge's other activities."' So must the judicial duties of a part-time judge take precedence over the part-time judge's other activities during that period of time in which the part-time judge is regularly scheduled to conduct court business.
 

For state court judges, the Committee believes that regular court hours means 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. Monday through Friday. For justice court judges, regular court hours are defined by Code of Judicial Administration Rule 9-105, which requires every justice court to establish, and post in a conspicuous location at the court site, a "regular schedule of court hours." The Committee believes that each justice court's established schedule constitutes the regular court hours for that court's judge.
 

Finally, the Committee believes that it is inappropriate for a judge to receive compensation for the performance of a marriage ceremony at the court location, regardless of whether the ceremony is performed during regular court hours.

1. The canon identifies adjudicative responsibilities,and administrative responsibilities as "judicial duties, and disciplinary responsibilities.