The Commission on Judicial Conduct was created by constitutional amendment as an independent agency of the judicial branch of government to review complaints concerning the ethical conduct of judges, state officers, and state employees of the judicial branch. The Commission, an 11-member body composed of judges, attorneys and representatives of the public, may impose sanctions, recommend disciplinary action, and issue decisions in the interest of both judicial independence and public accountability. Commission activities commence with a complaint from which follows a mandatory process involving four distinct constitutionally-required phases: preliminary investigation (96.1 percent of the complaints are resolved at this stage), initial proceedings (2.9 percent); public fact-finding hearing (.5 percent); and Supreme Court review (.5 percent) . The outcome at the end of each stage dictates whether further proceedings are necessary.