Is your Judge on the Take?

10 steps to research a judge’s finances to determine if he’s dirty

Ten Essential Steps
1) Check for the name of your judge’s spouse
2) Check judge’s years on the bench
3) Request his mandated financial disclosure forms from the state
4) Look him (and spouse) up on County Grantor Grantee index
5) Make spreadsheet to show loans, amounts and time it took to pay them back
6) Check any business interests with Secretary of State to locate more information—business partners, status of business interest, etc. Then run these businesses through the County Grantor Grantee index.
7) Check courts to see if your judge’s name or name of business partners are attached to any case
Check courts to see if he sat on any cases involving business partners
9) Make public records act request for phone records (checking for ex parte communications with the other side)
10) Check with auditor’s office to see if judge (a state employee) is also receiving monies from the county (conflict of interest issue)