The Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics responds to written inquiries from New York state's approximately 3,600 judges and justices, as well as hundreds of judicial hearing officers, support magistrates, court attorney-referees, and judicial candidates (both judges and non-judges seeking election to judicial office). The committee interprets the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct (22 NYCRR Part 100) and, to the extent applicable, the Code of Judicial Conduct. The committee consists of 27 current and retired judges, and is co-chaired by the Honorable Margaret Walsh, a justice of the supreme court, and the Honorable Lillian Wan, a court of claims judge and acting supreme court justice. 

We respond to your inquiry (20-122) about a proposed new procedure for handling uniform traffic tickets in your town court.  Specifically, you ask if you may (1) schedule the prosecution to come in first to review the tickets and "essentially fil[e] a written plea offer with the Court" by writing the plea offer on the ticket and signing it and then (2) on a later date, advise defendants that the ADA "has filed with the Court a written plea offer as follows."  As part of this procedure, you would also provide a disclaimer advising defendants that the court "is not acting as an agent or as a part of the District Attorney's office or on behalf of the People," and explain all options available to the defendant.  You further ask if you may use this same approach for unrepresented defendants on cases involving violations or misdemeanor charges.

Notwithstanding the proposed disclaimers, this two-step procedure would place the court in the position of improperly serving as an intermediary for the prosecution, as it relies on the court to convey the prosecution's plea offer to the defendant.  It is therefore impermissible.