The Idaho Judicial Council's executive director, Bob Hamlin, has retired after 29 years. The new director is Jim Carlson, who is now making the council's annual presentation to JFAC. A longtime attorney and former deputy Idaho attorney general, Carlson is the son of former state Sen. Herb Carlson, R-Eagle.

The council had no judicial vacancies to fill in 2010, and Carlson reported that the number of complaints it received was down, to 76, from 101 in 2009 and 121 in 2008. The council responded to more than 168 requests from judges for ethics opinions in 2010. "These judges in Idaho, they are proactive in trying to do the right thing," Carlson said.