To file a complaint against a federal judge, send a written statement of the judge’s conduct to the clerk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit where the judge serves, using that court’s complaint form. The Judicial Conduct and Disability Act, codified at 28 U.S.C. §§ 351–364, gives any person the right to file, requires no fee or lawyer, and sets no deadline.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. Chapter 16 – Complaints Against Judges and Judicial Discipline The circuit’s chief judge screens it first, and most complaints end there.
Where to Send It and What to Include
The complaint goes to the clerk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit where the judge sits. Each circuit publishes its own complaint form on its website, along with any local rules that add specific requirements, so check those before you file.2United States Courts. FAQs Filing a Judicial Conduct or Disability Complaint Against a Federal Judge The process covers U.S. circuit and district judges, bankruptcy judges, and magistrate judges.
Your filing needs the judge’s name, the court, and the case number if the conduct happened in a pending case. The heart of the complaint is a written statement of facts: what the judge did, when, and in front of whom. Keep it specific and chronological. Vague accusations like “the judge was unfair” are the fastest way to a dismissal. Tie each allegation to a type of conduct the statute actually reaches, such as bias, undisclosed communications with one side, or a conflict of interest.
Supporting documents are not required at filing, but they help. Court transcripts are the most useful because reviewers can verify them independently. Emails, letters, and other written records are worth attaching if they bear on what happened.
No deadline applies. The statute bars any rule that would impose one.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. Chapter 16 – Complaints Against Judges and Judicial Discipline Older allegations are harder to investigate, though, and the judge may have retired by the time anyone looks. Fresh facts travel better.
You do not need a lawyer. The statute lets “any person” file, and the forms are built for self-filers.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. Chapter 16 – Complaints Against Judges and Judicial Discipline The judge, by contrast, has a statutory right to counsel during any investigation. If a special committee is appointed and decides you can offer substantial information, you may get to appear in the proceeding, but there is no guaranteed right to representation on the complainant’s side.
What Counts as Misconduct
The Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings define misconduct as conduct that harms the effective administration of the courts, and spell out specific examples:3United States Courts. Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings
- Treating litigants, attorneys, or others in an egregiously hostile way, or letting racial, ethnic, or personal bias affect proceedings.
- Having off-the-record conversations with one side about the substance of a pending case. The Code of Conduct allows narrow exceptions for scheduling, emergencies, and consented settlement conferences, but any unauthorized merits contact triggers a duty to notify all parties.4United States Courts. Code of Conduct for United States Judges
- Accepting bribes, gifts, or favors tied to the judicial office.
- Using the position to get special treatment for friends or family.
- Retaliating against anyone who files a complaint, acts as a witness, or reports a problem. Retaliation is itself a separate act of misconduct.
- Serving while a mental or physical disability prevents the judge from performing judicial duties, which is handled through the same complaint system under the disability track.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. Chapter 16 – Complaints Against Judges and Judicial Discipline
Misconduct is not limited to behavior on the bench. Conduct outside official duties can qualify if it would substantially lower public confidence in the courts among reasonable people.3United States Courts. Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings
What Will Get Your Complaint Dismissed
This is where most complaints fail. If the real grievance is that the judge ruled against you, misread a statute, or made a procedural call you disagree with, the misconduct system cannot help. The statute requires the chief judge to dismiss any complaint “directly related to the merits of a decision or procedural ruling.”5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 352 – Review of Complaint by Chief Judge The remedy for a bad ruling is an appeal to a higher court.
A merits ruling allegedly driven by an improper motive is the one place that line bends. A complaint saying “the judge got the law wrong” dies on arrival. A complaint alleging that the judge ruled a certain way because of a bribe, racial bias, or an off-the-record conversation with opposing counsel can survive, because the target is the behavior behind the ruling, not the ruling itself.3United States Courts. Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings
Delay sits in a gray zone. A slow decision in your case alone is not misconduct. Habitual delay across many unrelated cases can be, especially if there is reason to think the delay is motivated by something other than caseload. A single delayed case can also qualify if the allegation involves an improper motive for the foot-dragging.
What Happens After You File
The clerk forwards the complaint to the chief judge of the circuit for an initial review.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 351 – Complaints; Judge Defined If the complaint targets the chief judge, it goes to the next most senior active circuit judge.
Initial Screening
The chief judge can dismiss outright for any of three reasons: the complaint does not meet statutory requirements, it attacks the merits of a ruling, or it is frivolous or lacks enough evidence to suggest misconduct occurred.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 352 – Review of Complaint by Chief Judge The matter can also be closed if the judge has already taken corrective action. Every dismissal comes with a written order explaining the reasons.
Special Committee Investigation
If the complaint survives screening, the chief judge appoints a special committee of equal numbers of circuit and district judges to investigate. The committee files a detailed written report with the circuit’s judicial council.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 353 – Special Committees The judge under investigation may appear in person or through counsel, present evidence, call witnesses, and cross-examine them.
What the Judicial Council Can Do
After reading the committee’s report, the judicial council decides what to do. It can dismiss the complaint, order its own further investigation, or impose sanctions. The available sanctions include a temporary halt on new case assignments, private censure, public censure, a disability certification under 28 U.S.C. § 372(b) for Article III judges, and a request that the judge voluntarily retire.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 354 – Action by Judicial Council
One hard limit: the judicial council cannot remove an Article III judge from office. Federal judges appointed under Article III serve during “good behavior” and can only be removed by congressional impeachment.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 354 – Action by Judicial Council Magistrate and bankruptcy judges are subject to separate removal procedures.
For the most serious cases, the judicial council can refer the matter to the Judicial Conference of the United States with a recommendation that the conduct warrants impeachment. If the Judicial Conference agrees, it certifies the matter and transmits the record to the U.S. House of Representatives, which can vote on articles of impeachment followed by a Senate trial.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 355 – Action by Judicial Conference
Appeal of the Decision
If you are unhappy with the judicial council’s decision, you can petition the Judicial Conference of the United States for review. The judge has the same right. Whatever the Judicial Conference decides is final; the statute bars further judicial review.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 357 – Review of Actions of Judicial Council
Confidentiality and Protection from Retaliation
The investigation is confidential by default. Papers, documents, and records are shielded from public disclosure, with narrow exceptions: the judicial council can share the special committee’s report with the complainant and the judge, Congress can access materials in an impeachment inquiry, and the judge and chief judge can jointly authorize disclosure in writing.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 360 – Disclosure of Information If the judicial council takes public disciplinary action, the written order and reasoning are available through the circuit clerk’s office.
Retaliation against a complainant, witness, or anyone else who reports misconduct is itself cognizable misconduct, and the Code of Conduct separately prohibits it. The protection covers current and former court employees.4United States Courts. Code of Conduct for United States Judges
If Your Judge Is a State Judge
The federal process reaches only federal judges. State judges are handled by each state’s own judicial conduct body, often called a Commission on Judicial Performance, Judicial Conduct Board, or Commission on Judicial Discipline. These bodies typically mix judges, lawyers, and public members, and most are established by the state constitution. The general pattern is similar — screening, investigation, hearing — but state sanctions can go further than federal ones, including suspension without pay and removal, because state judges generally do not have the lifetime tenure that Article III judges have. Search for your state’s name plus “judicial conduct commission” to find the filing instructions.
If You Want the Judge Off Your Case
A misconduct complaint will not change the outcome of your case or get the judge removed from it. If the problem is a conflict of interest or an appearance of bias in your specific case, the right tool is a motion to recuse, filed in the case itself. A judge’s refusal to recuse is generally treated as a merits-related ruling and will not, by itself, support a misconduct complaint. If the refusal is part of a larger pattern of bias or driven by something corrupt, the behavior behind it can.3United States Courts. Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings Picking the wrong tool wastes time and leaves the real problem untouched.