§ 46. Breach of confidentiality of commission information. 1. Any
staff member, employee or agent of the state commission on judicial
conduct who violates any of the provisions of section forty-five of this
article shall be subject to a reprimand, a fine, suspension or removal
by the commission.

2. Within ten days after the commission has acquired knowledge that a
staff member, employee or agent of the commission has or may have
breached the provisions of section forty-five of this article, written
charges against such staff member, employee or agent shall be prepared
and signed by the chairman of the commission and filed with the
commission. Within five days after receipt of charges, the commission
shall determine, by a vote of the majority of all the members of the
commission, whether probable cause for such charges exists. If such
determination is affirmative, within five days thereafter a written
statement specifying the charges in detail and outlining his rights
under this section shall be forwarded to the accused staff member,
employee or agent by certified mail. The commission may suspend the
staff member, employee or agent, with or without pay, pending the final
determination of the charges. Within ten days after receipt of the
statement of charges, the staff member, employee or agent shall notify
the commission in writing whether he desires a hearing on the charges.
The failure of the staff member, employee or agent to notify the
commission of his desire to have a hearing within such period of time
shall be deemed a waiver of the right to a hearing. If the hearing has
been waived, the commission shall proceed, within ten days after such
waiver, by a vote of a majority of all the members of such commission,
to determine the charges and fix the penalty or punishment, if any, to
be imposed as hereinafter provided.

3. Upon receipt of a request for a hearing, the commission shall
schedule a hearing, to be held at the commission offices, within twenty
days after receipt of the request therefor, and shall immediately notify
in writing the staff member, employee or agent of the time and place
thereof.

4. The commission shall have the power to establish necessary rules
and procedures for the conduct of hearings under this section. Such
rules shall not require compliance with technical rules of evidence. All
such hearings shall be held before a hearing panel composed of three
members of the commission selected by the commission. Each hearing shall
be conducted by the chairman of the panel who shall be selected by the
panel. The staff member, employee or agent shall have a reasonable
opportunity to defend himself and to testify on his own behalf. He shall
also have the right to be represented by counsel, to subpoena witnesses
and to cross-examine witnesses. All testimony taken shall be under oath
which the chairman of the panel is hereby authorized to administer. A
record of the proceedings shall be made and a copy of the transcript of
the hearing shall, upon written request, be furnished without charge to
the staff member, employee or agent involved.

5. Within five days after the conclusion of a hearing, the panel shall
forward a report of the hearing, including its findings and
recommendations, including its recommendations as to penalty or
punishment, if one is warranted, to the commission and to the accused
staff member, employee or agent. Within ten days after receipt of such
report the commission shall determine whether it shall implement the
recommendations of the panel. If the commission shall determine to
implement such recommendations, which shall include the penalty or
punishment, if any, of a reprimand, a fine, suspension for a fixed time
without pay or dismissal, it shall do so within five days after such
determination. If the charges against the staff member, employee or
agent are dismissed, he shall be restored to his position with full pay
for any period of suspension without pay and the charges shall be
expunged from his record.

6. The accused staff member, employee or agent may seek review of the
determination of the commission by way of a special proceeding pursuant
to article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.