Opinion No. GA-0551
The Honorable R. Lowell Thompson
Navarro County Criminal District Attorney
300 West 3rd Avenue, Suite 203
Corsicana, Texas 75110
Re: Whether a justice of the peace may continue to administer polygraph examinations, for the criminal district attorney's office, to criminal defendants subsequent to "arraignment" and setting of bail. (RQ-0558-GA)
SUMMARY
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct (the "Commission") is responsible for applying the Code of Judicial Conduct to specific conduct by judges, including justices of the peace. The Commission has opined that the public's confidence in an impartial and independent judiciary is undermined when a person attempts to serve both as a judge and in law enforcement. The Commission must initially determine whether a justice of the peace is prohibited by the Code of Judicial Conduct from administering polygraph examinations to criminal defendants for the criminal district attorney's office.
For further information, please access the website at www.oag.state.tx.us or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-200702512
Stacey Napier
Deputy Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: June 18, 2007