February 2022 Ethics Complaint v. Retired Ohio Judge David Stucki

Ohio Supreme Court

The Office of Disciplinary Counsel

250 Civic Center Drive Suite 325

Columbus, Ohio

February 1, 2022

Attn: Joseph M. Caligiu – Disciplinary Counsel Chief

Re: Ethics complaint v. Retired Visiting Judge David E. Stucki

Dear Mr. Caligiu:

The following ethics complaint deals with Judge Stucki’s misconduct in repeatedly violating the Supreme Court rules prohibiting a retired judge from earning more in a fiscal year than an elected/sitting judge.

Supreme Court Guidelines for Assignment of Judges re: limits on annual compensation states:

The aggregate annual compensation paid to the assigned judge as a result of all assignments shall not exceed the annual compensation payable to a judge serving on the highest level of court to which the judge has been assigned during

the calendar year

RULE 1.1 [5] Compliance with the Law

Actual improprieties include violations of law, court rules, or provisions of this code.

There can be no doubt that Judge Stucki repeatedly violated Supreme Court Rules/Guidelines limiting the income he was entitled to receive in any given fiscal year.

Rule 2.5: Competence, Diligence and Cooperation

(A) A judge shall perform judicial and administrative duties competently and diligently and shall comply with guidelines set forth in the Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio.

It would take hyperbole to new and yet unseen levels for Stucki to not be deemed totally incompetent in his abject failure over five (5) consecutive years to comply with the rules limiting his annual income.

The Table below sets forth the serial violations cheerfully engaged in by Stucki as he obtained income he clearly was not entitled to receive.

Please provide me with a copy of Judge Stucki’s reply to this ethics complaint.

Dave Palmer