Can a Justice of the Peace also work as a criminal defense attorney in the same county in which he was elected Justice of the Peace?

WALLER COUNTY HAD A SIMILAR PROBLEM. THEY HAD A COUNTY JUDGE WHO PRACTICED CRIMINAL DEFENSE WORK IN WALLER COUNTY. I DON'T THINK THEY EVER GOT A GOOD ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM. THE DA'S OFFICE RECUSED ITSELF ON ALL CASES WHERE THE JUDGE WAS THE DEFENSE ATTORNEY AND A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR WAS BROUGHT IN. I THINK EVEN SOME OF THE DISTRICT JUDGES RECUSED THEMSELVES.

Karen, I used to prosecute in Waller County. After a two plus year wait, we did finally get an eithics opinion saying that it was an ethical violation for the county judge to practice in the courts of his county. I don't have the opinion numbers with me at work, but send me your email address and I'll dig it out and send it too you.

The issues would be a bit different for a JP. We also had a JP who was a defense lawyer (trust me, if it's weird, it's in Waller County!), but he quit practicing criminal law when he was elected. There would certainly be a conflict if the JP magistated the defendant, signed a search warrant, signed an arrest warrant, or signed a committment. So long as he had absolutely nothing to do with that case I'm not sure there is an ethical conflict. I'll let someone else sort out the legal issue. I'm just happy that these problems aren't mine anymore!

Tuck, all the judges had to recuse themselves; the judicial ethics committee caught on real quick that there was a problem and issued an opinion required the judges to recuse themselves to avoid the appearance of impropriety. It was a mess.

steph7@cox-internet.com

Stephanie

Karen,
There is a heck of a chance for a conflict of interest there. As a JP he is obligated to represent the people that elected him. On the other hand, as a defense attorney he is obligated to represent his client. If he's on an appointed attorney list, it gets worse. A JP functions as a magistrate and is one of the first steps in the process at arraignment from Misd. to Capital Murder. He also can play a major part in taking confessions from Juveniles and the Juvenile system. It would be easy to end up representing someone he's arraigned or had a part in there case. He or she would be taking a real chance IMO.
Hawk

Isn't there some proposed legislation to deal with County Judges who want to practice law as well?

Hasn't been filed yet, and I don't know of anyone drafting such a thing....