How to Request an Opinion

A request for the opinion of the Committee may be made only by a State official in the Judicial Branch, as to the proper interpretation of an ethics provision as applied to that State official, or the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Maryland, as to the proper interpretation of an ethics provision.

Each request must:

  1. Be in writing.
  2. Describe the act or activity about which the opinion is requested.
  3. Include all documentation or other information necessary for the Committee to perform its function, which may include citation to rules, statutes, and published opinions of the Committee that the requester believes to be relevant to the request.
  4. Include an address to which the Committee shall direct correspondence. A State official in the Judicial Branch who requests an opinion as to application of an ethics provision and is in compliance with an opinion of, or letter of advice issued for, the Committee is protected from a charge of violation of that ethics provision.
    A sample form is available in PDF.

Requests should be sent to the Chair of the Committee, with a copy to Rebecca P. Riemer, at Judicial Ethics Committee, Maryland Judicial Center, 187 Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis, MD 21401.

Note: the pdf version will not save the form data unless you have purchased and installed Adobe Acrobat software on your PC.