Former Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio appears to want her old job back.

Astacio, who was removed from the bench in October, informed the Monroe County Board of Elections that she intended to circulate a petition to get her name on the ballot for one of two open seats on City Court this year.

She also told the board that she planned to petition to run for an open City Council seat on the city’s northwest side.

Deputy Elections Commissioner Nancy Leven said Astacio visited the board in person on Monday asking for designating petitions, in which to collect signatures, and expressing an interest in running in one or both races.

“This office gave her what she requested,” Leven said.

Astacio has not publicly declared herself a candidate for either office, and she responded to a message from the Democrat and Chronicle about her Board of Elections visit with a text of an image of a Facebook post she published earlier in the day.

The post read in part, "It's women's history month. Use this perfect reminder to remember that there is no limit to what you can do.…Remember, well behaved women rarely make history and shake some s*** up this month, I certainly plan to."

Asked specifically whether she was a candidate, she replied four hours later, saying, "I haven't decided yet," adding that her sister, Felicia Astacio, is a candidate for a City Council seat representing the city's northeast section.

Whatever Astacio's intent when it comes to City Court, the state Constitution prohibits her from holding another judgeship.

Expressing an interest in a specific elected office at the Board of Elections is considered the initial step to formally declaring a candidacy. The board maintains a list of people who, like Astacio, have shared their desire to run and requested petitions to collect signatures.

There are currently seven people, including Astacio, on the board’s list of potential City Court candidates. Each of them, except Astacio, has publicly declared his or her candidacy.

They include incumbent City Court Judge Melissa Barrett, who was appointed by Mayor Lovely Warren to fill the vacant seat left by Astacio; private attorneys Barbara Farrell and Aaron Frazier; public defender Nicole Morris; County Legislator Mark Muoio; and Rochester School Board President Van White.

Five people, including Astacio, are on the board’s list of potential candidates for the northwest City Council seat, which is being vacated by Councilwoman Molly Clifford.

None is on the ballot as of now. To get there, each must file the requisite number of signatures by April 4.

Astacio wouldn’t be the first ousted judge to run for another elected office. But she might be the first to attempt to defy the Constitution by waging a new campaign for the bench.

“I’ve been doing this for 40 years and I’ve never heard of a removed judge who sought to retain judicial office again,” said Robert Tembekjian, the administrator of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct.

The commission recommended that Astacio be stripped of her judgeship last year following a series of legal follies stemming from her misdemeanor drunken driving conviction. The Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, upheld the recommendation.

The court’s role is significant should Astacio attempt to run for City Court because the state Constitution prohibits ousted judges from taking the bench in any capacity again.

“A judge or justice removed by the court of appeals shall be ineligible to hold other judicial office,” reads Article 6, Section 22 (h) of the Constitution.

The phrase “other judicial office,” Tembekjian said, “has always been interpreted and understood to mean when you are removed as a judge you can’t be a judge again.”

“It’s legally permissible to run for something else,” Tembekjian added. “But if you’re removed as a judge you can’t be a judge again, and I’m surprised Judge Astacio doesn’t know that.”

Even if Astacio were to somehow successfully challenge the Constitution and run for City Court, a felony gun charge she faces could spoil her plans for that office as well as City Council.

The charge was related to her alleged attempt last year to buy a shotgun, a move that prosecutors claim violated her probation. Her trial is slated for April 1. If she’s convicted, she’ll lose her law license and, consequently, a requirement for her to assume the bench.

Convicted felons aren’t prohibited from running for public office in New York, provided they’ve served their sentence to completion. Felony sentences tend to span at least one year, making it unlikely that any sentence Astacio would receive would expire by the June primary or November general election.

Losing a job as judge doesn’t always mean losing popularity among the electorate. Removed judges elsewhere have proven themselves bona fide vote getters.

Former Troy City Court Judge Henry Bauer went on to be elected to the Troy City Council after he was removed from the bench for imposing excessive bail and coercing defendants into pleading guilty, among other blatant violations of the law.

In Niagara Falls, former City Court Judge Robert Restaino won a seat on the school board and is today a candidate for mayor.

The state Court of Appeals removed him from the bench in 2008 for jailing 46 people in his courtroom after none owned up to possessing a cellphone that rang while Restaino’s court was in session.

DANDREATTA@Gannett.com