PHOENIX – Despite the fact disgraced former Desert Ridge Justice of the Peace (JP) Clancy Jayne lost his bid for reelection to Cathy Riggs in August 2016 and he was no longer holding judicial office as of Jan. 1, 2017, the investigative panel of the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct determined there was reasonable cause to pursue the formal proceedings against Jayne with the 74-page amended statement of charges it filed in October alleging misconduct in office.
Jayne has been publicly censured, and/or reprimanded by the commission for misconduct on at least five previous occasions since he began serving as JP in January 2009.
Arizona JPs are elected to four-year terms and candidates need only meet minimal requirements.
Candidates must be at least 18 years old, an Arizona resident, a qualified voter in the precinct in which the duties of office will be performed and must read and write English.
In February, the hearing panel assigned to these matters considered and voted to approve a stipulated resolution in which Jayne agreed to never seek elected judicial office or serve in any judicial capacity in the state of Arizona at any time in the future.
In exchange, the commission hearing panel agreed to not pursue the formal ethics charges against Jayne.
However, the commission could reinstate those charges and seek an injunction should Jayne fail to comply with the terms of the stipulated resolution.
Jayne did not make any admissions concerning the allegations contained in the amended statement of formal charges except as made in his response to those charges.
A final order was filed by the commission on Feb. 28 stating the stipulated resolution was accepted as the final resolution in the case, concluding the formal judicial disciplinary proceeding, providing Jayne complies with the terms and conditions.
The commission is an independent state agency with disciplinary jurisdiction over all state and local judges. It is comprised of six judges, two attorneys and three public members.
The commission investigates and resolves complaints about the conduct of Arizona judges and makes recommendations to the Arizona Supreme Court as to whether a judge should be censured, suspended or removed from judicial office.
