Edward McLean is chairman of the Judicial Standards Commission, which considers the practice improper. Municipal Court Judge Nancy Luth of Great Falls says a letter from McLean stated that the food drives violated a judicial canon of ethics.

Luth says she has held a canned food drive every December since 1994, waiving a $50 payment if people donated 10 cans of food. A spokeswoman for the Great Falls Community Food Bank says the donations brought 43 tons of food to the food bank during that time.