AMENDMENTS TO JUDICIAL COUNCILS REFORM AND JUDICIAL CONDUCT AND DISABILITY ACT OF 1980.

SEC. 402. AMENDMENTS TO JUDICIAL COUNCILS REFORM AND JUDICIAL CONDUCT AND DISABILITY ACT OF 1980. (a) Identification of Complaints by Chief Judge.— Paragraph (1) of section 372(c) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: “In the interests of the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts and on the basis of information available to the chief judge of the circuit, the chief judge may, by written order stating reasons therefor, identify a complaint for purposes of this subsection and thereby dispense with filing of a written complaint.”. (b) Membership of Special Investigative Committees.—Paragraph (4) of section 372(c) of such title is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: “A judge appointed to a special committee under this paragraph may continue to serve on that committee after becoming a senior judge or, in the case of the chief judge of the circuit, after his or her term as chief judge terminates under subsection (a)(3) or (c) of section 45 of this title. If a judge appointed to a committee under this paragraph dies, or retires from office under section 371(a) of this title, while serving on the committee, the chief judge of the circuit may appoint another circuit or district judge, as the case may be, to the committee.”. (c) Public Availability of Impeachment Recommendation.— (1) Paragraph (8) of section 372(c) of such title is amended by adding at the end thereof the following sentence: “Upon receipt of the determination and record of proceedings in the House of Representatives, the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall make available to the public the determination and any reasons for the determination.”. (2) Paragraph (14) of such section is amended— (A) by striking out “All” and inserting in lieu thereof “Except as provided in paragraph (8), all”; (B) by striking out “unless” and inserting in lieu thereof “except to the extent that”; (C) in subparagraph (B) by inserting “such disclosure is” before “authorized”; (D) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively; and (E) by inserting the following new subparagraph (A) immediately before subparagraph (B) (as so redesignated): “(A) the judicial council of the circuit in its discretion releases a copy of a report of a special investigative committee under paragraph (5) to the complainant whose complaint initiated the investigation by that special committee and to the judge or magistrate whose conduct is the subject of the complaint;”. 104 STAT. 5123 (d) Impeachment Recommendations With Respect to Convicted Judges.— Section 372(c) of such title is further amended in paragraph (8)— (1) by inserting “(A)” after “(8)”; and (2) by adding at the end thereof the following: “(B) If a judge or magistrate has been convicted of a felony and has exhausted all means of obtaining direct review of the conviction, or the time for seeking further direct review of the conviction has passed and no such review has been sought, the Judicial Conference may, by majority vote and without referral or certification under paragraph (7), transmit to the House of Representatives a determination that consideration of impeachment may be warranted, together with appropriate court records, for whatever action the House of Representatives considers to be necessary.”. (e) Rules by Judicial Conference and Judicial Councils.— Paragraph (11) of section 372(c) of such title is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: “No rule promulgated under this subsection may limit the period of time within which a person may file a complaint under this subsection.”. (f) Conclusion of Proceedings by Chief Judge.— Paragraph (3)(B) of section 372(c) of such title is amended by inserting before the period the following: “or that action on the complaint is no longer necessary because of intervening events”. (g) Dismissal of Complaints by Judicial Councils.— Paragraph (6) of section 372(c) of such title is amended— (1) by striking out “and” at the end of subparagraph (B); (2) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (D); and (3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following: “(C) may dismiss the complaint; and”. (h) Reimbursement for Expenses and Attorneys’ Fees.— Section 372(c) of such title is further emended— (1) by redesignating paragraphs (16) and (17) as paragraphs (17) and (18); and (2) by inserting after paragraph (15) the following new paragraph: “(16) Upon the request of a judge or magistrate whose conduct is the subject of a complaint under this subsection, the judicial council may, if the complaint has been finally dismissed under paragraph (6)(C), recommend that the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts award reimbursement, from funds appropriated to the Federal judiciary, for those reasonable expenses, including attorneys’ fees, incurred by that judge or magistrate during the investigation which would not have been incurred but for the requirements of this subsection.”. (i) Technical Corrections.— (1) Paragraph (7)(B) of section 372(c) of such title is amended— (A) by striking out “has engaged in conduct” and inserting in lieu thereof “may have engaged in conduct”; and (B) in clause (i) by striking out “article I” and inserting in lieu thereof “article II”. (2) Paragraph (14)(C) of such section, as redesignated by subsection (c)(2)(D) of this section, is amended by striking out “subject to the complaint” and inserting in lieu thereof “subject of the complaint”.