AN ACT Relating to judge impartiality; adding a new section to chapter 2.64 RCW; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 2.64 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The legislature respectfully requests that the commission adopt new rules implementing the policy in subsection (2) of this section to protect the integrity of the judicial process and promote public confidence in the courts.

(2) It is the policy of the commission to discipline any judge who fails to disqualify himself or herself in any proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned because:

(a) The judge knows or learns by means of a timely motion that a party, a party's lawyer, or the law firm of a party's lawyer has within the previous three years made aggregate contributions to the judge's election in an amount that is greater than one thousand dollars; or

(b) When a party or lawyer who made a contribution of one thousand dollars or more to the judge's campaign appears in a case, the judge failed to disclose the contribution to the parties. The requirement to disclose shall continue from the time the judge begins a campaign until one hundred eighty days after the judge's election.

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