Board of Judicial Standards outlines complaint process, discipline options and modest budget request to House committee

The Minnesota Board of Judicial Standards told the House Judiciary and Civil Law Committee at a committee hearing that it has seen more incoming complaints since launching an online intake system and that most incoming matters are filtered out as outside the board’s jurisdiction.

Sarah Basence, executive secretary for the Board of Judicial Standards, summarized the board’s role and process for members and staff of the committee. "Before this board came into existence the only way to discipline a judge was through impeachment," Basence said, describing the historical shift that created a statutory complaints process administered by the board and implemented through Supreme Court rules.

The board described a multi-step handling process: staff review each complaint, staff or a board member may summarily dismiss complaints outside the board’s jurisdiction, and jurisdictional complaints may lead to a confidential inquiry, an investigation, a negotiated resolution (private admonition, deferred disposition, private reprimand) or — for serious matters — a formal complaint that proceeds to a Supreme…