by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Jacksonville Bar Association President Kelly Mathis has reactivated the Judicial Campaign Practices Commission for the purpose of monitoring the current judicial races and handling any complaints that may arise before Tuesday’s primary.
The commission was created by the Bar two years ago and established to oversee three specific areas during judicial elections.
• Ensure candidates for judicial office are adequately informed about regulations, laws and standards governing the conduct of judicial campaigns. Canon 7 of the State elections laws pertains directly to what judicial candidates can and can’t do while running.
• Discourage improper judicial campaign conduct, which serves to diminish public respect for and confidence in the legal system. When Mathis was sworn into office in late June, he said one of his main priorities was to re-establish the public’s trust in the legal profession and increase the collegiality among those in the profession.
• Encourage the prompt, effective resolution of alleged campaign improprieties in judicial elective contests.
Charles Pillans of Bedell Dittmar DeVault Pillans & Coxe is the current chair of the commission. There are two empty seats, but the rest of the commission consists of Dan Coffman, Wes Poole, Buddy Schultz and Chris Milton.
“We wanted to make sure we had good people who were well-respected in the community,” said Mathis. “We wanted people with opinions that people would take seriously.”
There are 12 candidates vying for three Circuit Court seats and one County Court seat. According to Mathis, all of the candidates have been notified about the reactivation of the commission. Mathis said Tuesday all but one candidate returned a letter agreeing to participate and he expected the final candidate to also agree.
“The Jacksonville Bar Association does not expect any of the candidates to engage in conduct that would require the commission’s action,” said Mathis, “but believes it is important to have the commission available to assure the candidates and the public that the judicial elections will be conducted in accordance with the ethical and legal standards governing judicial candidates.”
All of the candidates were asked to agree to participate in the program. They were also asked, especially if they were first-time candidates, to learn the applicable local and state laws, regulations and ethical standards that govern judicial campaigns. Unlike campaigns for other elected offices, judicial candidates are limited by what they can say about themselves or their opponents, what they put in print advertisements and what they run in the form of TV ads.
The commission has installed a process whereby a candidate that feels their opponent has acted improperly can file a written complaint with the commission. The defending candidate has 48 hours to respond to the complaint and the commission will issue its response within 48 hours. That response will be made public.
Mathis said no complaints have been filed to date.
“Thank goodness and I hope we don’t have to,” said Mathis of the commission looking into anything. “We have it in place so if someone comes to us we can provide a response quickly. My understanding is there have been no issues.”