Sec. 150.9. Conflicts of interest

(a) No member of a qualifications commission shall be a candidate for judicial office or shall support or act on behalf of any candidate for judicial office.

(b) A member shall recuse himself or herself from participating in a commission proceeding where the member has a relationship with the candidate, or with another candidate competing for the same judicial office, which could reasonably render the member's participation unfair to the public or any candidate, or which might cause others to perceive that such participation is inappropriate or unfair. In the event that it cannot obtain a quorum due to the recusal of members under this section, a commission may, as it deems appropriate:

(1) transfer the application(s) of the candidate(s) affected to another commission within the same Judicial Department for evaluation; or

(2) permit temporary service on the commission by a member or members of another commission within the same Judicial Department for the consideration of such application(s).

(c) The following persons shall not be eligible to serve as a member of a qualifications commission:

(1) any person who presently holds or has held a political party elective office within the past three years, other than a county committee member;

(2) any person who was a candidate for or who has held elective public office during the three years preceding the year of commission service, or is presently a candidate for public office;

(3) any person who is an employee of the courts; and

(4) any person who has been found guilty of professional misconduct or of a class B misdemeanor or more serious crime (or the equivalent under the law of any other jurisdiction).