According to an article in the Legal Intelligencer (subscription required), the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board tripled the amount of “letters of caution” sent to judges in 2011.  Last year the Board sent out 35 letters.  In 2010 the Board sent out 10 letters.  These letters “intended to serve as a ‘wake-up call’… to judges whose alleged misconduct amounts to no more than an ‘aberration or an oversight or other minor error in judicial comportment.’”  Examples of this conduct include a judge’s disregard of an order in the judge’s personal litigation and “initiating improper discussion” with another judge about a family member’s case. 
 
Although the letters of caution have tripled, judges are not required to sign the letters and the correspondence may not be used against the judge in future judicial misconduct proceedings.  Despite this, the Board’s chief counsel, explained that “they are tracked internally and used in determining the course of future proceedings.”
 
The Board has received more attention following the Luzerne county “kids-for-cash” scandal.  It has issued annual reports and press releases regarding allegations against judges.  PMC executive director Lynn Marks stated, "[w]e have seen an increase in transparency and we think that's a good thing," however, there is always room for improvement.  Shira Goodman, PMC’s deputy director, explained that one such improvement is to advise “complainants on the status of their complaints at each stage of the inquiry process.”