File A Complaint For Judicial Misconduct

Rules & Procedures

Congress has created a procedure that permits any person to file a complaint in the courts about the behavior of federal judges—but not about the decisions federal judges make in deciding cases. The Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings explain what may be complained about, who may be complained about, where to file a complaint, and how the complaint will be processed.

Almost all complaints in recent years have been dismissed because they do not follow the law about such complaints.  The law says that complaints about judges' decisions and complaints with no evidence to support them must be dismissed.  If you are a litigant in a case and believe that the judge made a wrong decision—even a very wrong decision—you may not use this procedure to complain about the decision. An attorney can explain the rights you have as a litigant to seek review of a judicial decision.

To file a complaint against a judge in the Tenth Circuit federal courts (which includes Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming), you must follow the Rules adopted by both  the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Tenth Circuit Judicial Council.   Complaints for judges in the Tenth Circuit are filed with the Circuit Executive in Denver.

Complaint Form

To file a complaint, you may use the form attached to the Rules.