Political and Campaign Activities of Judicial Candidates in Public Elections

[Effective through February 6, 2023.] (A) A judicial candidate in a public election shall: (1) act at all times in a manner consistent with the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary; (2) comply with all applicable election, election campaign, and election campaign fund-raising laws and regulations of this jurisdiction; (3) review and approve the content of all campaign statements and materials produced by the candidate or his or her campaign committee, as authorized by Rule 4.4, before their dissemination; and (4) take reasonable measures to ensure that other persons do not undertake on behalf of the candidate activities that the candidate is prohibited from doing by Rule 4.1. (5) report contributions received and campaign expenses in accordance with NRS Chapter 294A . (6) if elected to judicial office, a candidate who received contributions that were not spent or committed for expenditure as a result of the campaign may dispose of such unspent campaign funds in any combination as provided in subsections (a)-(d). A judicial candidate who ultimately does not file for judicial election or withdraws their candidacy but raises campaign funds must divest themselves of the unspent campaign funds in accordance with subsections (a), (b), and (d) within 60 days following the close of filing for such election. Any other disposition of the money is prohibited. (a) return the unspent money to contributors; (b) donate the money to the general fund of the state, county or city relating to the judge’s office; (c) use the money in the judge’s next election or for the payment of other expenses related to the judge’s public office or the judge’s previous campaigns for judicial office; (d) donate the money to any tax-exempt nonprofit entity, including a nonprofit state or local bar association, the Administrative Office of the Courts or any foundation entrusted with the distribution of Interest on Lawyer’s Trust Accounts (IOLTA) funds. (7) unless a candidate for other judicial office, a judge who does not run for reelection shall, not later than the 15th day of the second month after the expiration of the judge’s term of office, dispose of those contributions in the manner provided in Rule 4.2(A)(6). (B) A candidate for elective judicial office may, unless prohibited by law: (1) establish a campaign committee pursuant to the provisions of Rule 4.4; (2) speak on behalf of his or her candidacy through any medium, including but not limited to advertisements, websites, or other campaign literature; (3) publicly oppose candidates for the same judicial office for which he or she is running; (4) in accordance with Rules 4.2(C), 4.2(D) and other applicable law, solicit and accept campaign contributions, either personally or through a campaign committee. (5) seek, accept, or use endorsements from any person or organization other than a partisan political organization. (C) A judge or judicial candidate who is not opposed in an election must not solicit or accept contributions for the candidate’s campaign, either personally or through a candidate’s committee, from and after 5 p.m. on March 18, 2022. (1) A candidate becomes opposed in an election when, at the close of filing, another candidate has filed a declaration of candidacy or acceptance of candidacy for the same judicial office. (2) If a candidate’s opponent files a withdrawal of candidacy, the candidate is deemed unopposed as of the effective date of the withdrawal of candidacy and must not solicit or accept campaign contributions after that date. (3) A judge or candidate for judicial office who has announced his or her intention to file for a judicial office and/or the judge’s or candidate’s committees may solicit or accept contributions for the judge’s or candidate’s campaign no earlier than 5 p.m. on January 14, 2022, and, unless unopposed, no later than 90 days after the last election in which the candidate participates during the election year. The amendments to Rule 4.2(C) and (C)(3) shall sunset on February 6, 2023, and will revert to the Rule as it exists before these changes. The amendments to Rule 4.2(A)(6) and the deletion of Rule 4.2(D) are exempt from this sunset provision. [Amended; effective January 14, 2022.]