Opinion 25-176

December 18, 2025

Digest:  Subject to appropriate administrative approvals, an individual judge may use personal funds to commission lapel pins and challenge coins featuring the Unified Court System seal and/or logo to give as holiday gifts to court staff. 

Rules:   22 NYCRR 100.2; 100.2(A); 100.2(C); Opinion 08-177.

Opinion:

          The inquiring judge would like to use personal funds to commission (a) lapel pins depicting the Unified Court System seal and (b) “challenge coins” showing the Unified Court System logo on one side and a reference to the judge’s court on the other.  Thereafter, the judge envisions that he/she would personally distribute these items as holiday gifts.  The lapel pins would be given to court staff only, while the challenge coins would be given both to court staff and to “other professional users of the Court.”  The judge explains that the “professional users” could include the deputy sheriffs who provide security in the judge’s court, prosecutors, and defense attorneys.  The judge asks if this is ethically permissible. 

          A judge must always avoid even the appearance of impropriety (see 22 NYCRR 100.2) and must always act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the judiciary’s integrity and impartiality (see 22 NYCRR 100.2[A]).  A judge may not lend the prestige of judicial office to advance any private interest (see 22 NYCRR 100.2[C]).  

          The present inquiry appears to be a matter of first impression for us, and we emphasize that the judge is asking solely on his/her own behalf, rather than on behalf of a judicial association or court employee organization. 

          Nothing in the inquiry suggests that purchase of these nominal, court-themed items, at the judge’s own expense, would advance a commercial or private interest (cf. Opinion 08-177).  Still, in our view, an individual judge’s proposed personal use of the Unified Court System seal and logo for holiday gifts should be subject to oversight by an appropriate administrative judge to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. 

          Accordingly, we conclude that, subject to appropriate administrative approvals, the inquiring judge may use personal funds to commission lapel pins and challenge coins featuring the Unified Court System seal and/or logo to give as holiday gifts to court staff.  On these facts, we conclude it would not be appropriate for the judge to give his/her personally commissioned court-themed tokens to deputy sheriffs, prosecutors, or defense counsel.