MADISON, Wis. -- The state's newest Supreme Court Justice is facing charges from state regulators for an ad he ran during the campaign that falsely suggested his opponent freed a child molester.

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The Wisconsin Judicial Commission alleges Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman violated the code of judicial conduct, which prevents judicial candidates from knowingly misrepresenting facts about their opponent.

Gableman's campaign ran an ad in the Milwaukee area before the April election against Incumbent Justice Louis Butler claiming he found a "loophole" to free a convicted sex offender.

The commission said Gableman knew an ad wasn't true when it claimed Butler found a "loophole" to free a child molester he had represented as a public defender.

Gableman defeated incumbent Justice Louis Butler in the April election. At the time, Gableman was a little-known county judge from northwestern Wisconsin.

Citizen Action of Wisconsin, a progressive citizen advocacy group dedicated to bringing transparency to the electoral system, filed the compliant with the Wisconsin Judicial Commission on March 18.

One local government watchdog group said fallout from recent Supreme Court campaigns is cause for concern.

"People are seeing the Supreme Court splashed all over their television screens, but in an extraordinarily negative light," said Executive Director of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Mike McCabe. "What it's going to do is undermine the public's confidence in the court system, the Supreme Court in particular."

The Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals will now select a panel of three appeals judges to conduct a hearing.

Gableman's campaign spokesman said the complaint is without merit. Darrin Schmitz said in a statement, "The commission chose to ignore the plain language of the ad, which is factual. Instead the complaint alleges the ad contains false statements on the basis of inference and implication. The First Amendment does not allow a claim to be made on that basis."

If he's found to have violated the code of conduct, Gableman could face discipline by other justices on the bench, which has happened before. Justice Annette Ziegler was publicly reprimanded for a conflict-of-interest violation last year.

Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuing coverage.