Opinion 25-134

September 10, 2025

Digest:  A judge who is a firearm licensing officer is not precluded from reviewing and deciding a pistol permit application merely because the applicant is a first-degree relative of the other judge in a two-judge court.

Rules:   22 NYCRR 100.2; 100.2(A); 100.2(B); 100.3(E)(1); Opinions 24-38; 17-31; 14-81; 12-154; 11-125.

Opinion:

          The inquiring full-time judge has been asked by the county clerk to review and approve a pistol permit application.  The judge asks if it is ethically permissible to do so, given that the applicant is a first-degree relative of the judge’s co-judge in a two-judge court.

          A judge must always avoid even the appearance of impropriety (see 22 NYCRR 100.2) and must always act to promote public confidence in the judiciary’s integrity and impartiality (see 22 NYCRR 100.2[A]).  A judge must not allow family, social, political, or other relationships to influence the judge’s judicial conduct or judgment (see 22 NYCRR 100.2[B]) and must disqualify in a proceeding in which his/her impartiality “might reasonably be questioned” (22 NYCRR 100.3[E][1]).

          In our view, a judge’s impartially cannot reasonably be questioned merely because his/her co-judge’s close relatives appear in a matter, even when there are only two judges in the court (see e.g. Opinions 14-81 [co-judge’s spouse as litigant]; 17-31 [co-judge’s adult child as complainant]; 12-154 [co-judge’s child as attorney]).  The judge should instead “consider his/her own relationship, if any, with the particular individual who is appearing before him/her as a party, using the general categories of social relationships set forth in Opinion 11-125 as a guide” (Opinion 24-38, quoting Opinion 14-81).

          In sum, a judge who is a firearm licensing officer is not precluded from reviewing and deciding a pistol permit application merely because the applicant is a first-degree relative of the other judge in a two-judge court.  Nothing in the present inquiry suggests that the inquiring judge has a relationship with the applicant that requires disqualification or disclosure.  Accordingly, provided the judge can be fair and impartial, he/she may review and decide this pistol permit application at the request of the county clerk, just as he/she would any other application.