Joe Miller

Miller's misdeeds at borough never investigated as a crime

1026-miller2U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller's use of Fairbanks borough computers for political purposes was never investigated as a crime, the borough attorney says.

Fairbanks North Star Borough Attorney Rene Broker also did not consider filing a complaint with the Alaska Bar Association, she said.

The bar association could still take up the case on its own or if a member of the public filed a complaint, although any action would remain secret until the professional organization got to the point of proceeding with a formal hearing, bar officials said.

In the past few days, since Miller's problems at the Fairbanks North Star Borough have been publicly revealed, questions have been raised about why Miller wasn't prosecuted and whether the state bar association had reviewed the ethical implications of Miller admitting that he broke borough policy and then repeatedly lied to cover it up.

Former Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker has said on several occasions that he believed Miller's political activities involving the surreptitious use of borough equipment to try to oust GOP party chair Randy Ruedrich had been under consideration for possible criminal charges, both misdemeanor and felony.

But Borough Attorney Rene Broker said Friday that her office had only considered Miller's actions "a violation of our ethics and computer policy."

Criminal charges were "never a part of our discipline and never considered," Broker said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Violating the borough ordinance didn't necessarily make it a crime, she said.

Broker also said officials did not consider the violation of the borough's ethics policy something to report to the state bar association. "We did not perceive it that way," she said.

Lawyers are governed by the rules of professional conduct set out by the Alaska Supreme Court and by guidelines that have been created through Alaska ethics opinions.

Bar association officials have said Miller has no record of public discipline with the bar association and no public charges are pending. If there had been complaints filed or action initiated since Miller's borough discipline has come to light, the bar association could not disclose it, assistant bar counsel Louise Driscoll said Friday.

Generally, she said, anyone can file a complaint against an attorney, and the bar association itself can file based on information it receives.

"Sometimes we'll read about conduct in the newspaper that raises questions for us," she said. "But nothing is public."

The bar association follows a detailed and often lengthy process that includes asking the lawyer who is the subject of a complaint for a response, possibly obtaining more information from the person making the complaint and gathering any other information that may be pertinent.

The case becomes public only if the bar association decides to proceed with a petition for formal hearing, she said.

Contact Patti Epler at patti(at)alaskadispatch.com.

ADVERTISEMENT