Commission to make discipline recommendation for former Nome judge public Nov. 17

The Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct will make public its discipline recommendation for former Nome Superior Court Judge Romano DiBenedetto at a special meeting at 3 pm Nov. 17, according to the state public notice.

The notice does not say what the commission will recommend to the Alaska Supreme Court or whether it reflects a settlement. It cites the commission rule that an August 2025 filing described as its settlement procedure: a settlement reached after probable cause must be presented at a public hearing and takes effect only once the Supreme Court approves it.

The amended complaint, dated Oct. 15, brings three counts. It says that while he was a judge, his Facebook account identified him with the court system, the Nome courthouse and judicial chambers and showed apparent links to adult-oriented, sexually suggestive and commercial sex-related content. It says his personal phone called or communicated with two numbers tied in records to online commercial sex ads, contacts found through separate criminal investigations and search warrant records. And it says his answer to a 2023 commission inquiry about the Facebook page "lacked completeness and candor." In 2023 he denied knowing about the material, and the commission closed that file.

The complaint does not allege DiBenedetto was the subject or target of those investigations or warrants, or that the phone contact alone establishes criminal conduct. It says the contacts created a serious appearance of impropriety. DiBenedetto told the commission he closed the Facebook account in May.

The amended complaint replaces an April 27 complaint that said more. It said a Department of Public Safety analyst recognized DiBenedetto's name in two closed sex trafficking investigations, in 2021 and 2023. His number appeared once in each, each call lasting about 20 seconds, and "Judge DiBenedetto intentionally deceived the Commission," that complaint said.

A May 26 scheduling order set a formal hearing for Dec. 3 in Anchorage. The commission's Oct. 15 status report still lists the hearing as scheduled, but the records do not say whether it will go forward.

Nome has one superior court judge, and the seat has been vacant since DiBenedetto's departure, which Judicial Council documents describe both as a resignation and a retirement. The council is trying again to fill the seat; its Oct. 30 release lists two applicants, Molly Banas and Liz Mering.

This is DiBenedetto's second discipline case. Gov. Bill Walker appointed him in 2017. In July 2025 the commission recommended a public reprimand on agreed findings, but the Supreme Court found the agreed findings' statement of facts insufficient, and the file closed Oct. 10, 2025.

The commission brought formal charges that November. In a January stipulation, DiBenedetto admitted that a Jan. 8, 2024, after-hours hearing in Unalakleet was delayed nearly an hour because he was watching a televised sporting event. He also admitted impersonating people who appeared in his courtroom, including Alaska Natives and a Vietnamese police officer, in front of court staff outside the courtroom. The stipulation says he takes responsibility and is committed to ensuring the conduct does not recur. The commission voted unanimously Jan. 30 to recommend a public reprimand.

On April 16 the commission asked the Supreme Court not to act, citing new facts. Its Oct. 15 status report says that recommendation stays suspended until the commission decides the new case.