| Action |
Date Issued |
Summary |
| Private Warning of a Former Justice of the Peace. (10/05/09) |
10/05/2009 |
The judge failed to follow the law when she denied a defendant his constitutional right to a jury trial, which he had properly requested. [Violation of Canon 2A of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Warning of a Former Justice of the Peace. (10/05/09) |
| Private Warning of a Justice of the Peace. (10/06/09) |
10/06/2009 |
The judge failed to follow the law, failed to disqualify herself and failed to maintain professional competence in the law when she disposed of a traffic case involving a relative without the prosecutor's consent. [Violation of Canons 2A, 2B, 3B(1) and 3B(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Warning of a Justice of the Peace. (10/06/09) |
| Private Admonition of a District Judge. (10/09/09) |
10/09/2009 |
The judge failed to follow the law when he denied three defendants their right to a bond. [Violation of Canon 2A of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition of a District Judge. (10/09/09) |
| Private Admonition of a Justice of the Peace. (10/14/09) |
10/14/2009 |
The judge used his official judicial letterhead to express his opposition to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission's plan to issue a mixed beverage license to an establishment in his community. [Violation of Canon 2B of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition of a Justice of the Peace. (10/14/09) |
| Private Reprimand of a Senior Judge. (10/30/09) |
10/30/2009 |
The judge failed to disclose her relationship to an attorney while presiding over a case in which the attorney represented a party. The judge further appointed the attorney as an ad litem in several proceeding in her court, awarded the attorney fees, and failed to voluntarily recuse herself from those cases and/or disclose the relationship with the attorney to the parties in those cases. [Violation of Article V, Section 1-a(8), of the Texas Constitution.] Private Reprimand of a Senior Judge. (10/30/09) |
| Private Admonition of a District Judge. (11/19/09) |
11/19/2009 |
The judge met privately with a party and discussed substantive issues about a case, outside the presence of the opposing party. Based on the improper ex parte discussion, the judge granted the party's motion to vacate an order he had previously rendered in favor of the opposing side. The judge's conduct deprived the opposing party their right to be heard, and raised a legitimate question as to the judge's ability to decide the case in a fair and impartial manner, resulting in the judge's eventual recusal. [Violation of Canon 3B(8) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition of a District Judge. (11/19/09) |
| Private Admonition of a District Judge. (11/19/09) |
11/19/2009 |
The judge represented criminal defendants in their respective cases after he had magistrated the same defendants while serving as a municipal judge. [Violation of Canon 2B of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition of a District Judge. (11/19/09) |
| Private Admonition of a Justice of the Peace. (12/09/09) |
09/09/2009 |
The judge issued a judgment "conditionally" in a small claim case, and subsequently changed the judgment without notice and without affording the parties an opportunity to be heard according to law. [Violation of Canons 2A, 3B(2) and 3B(8) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition of a Justice of the Peace. (12/09/09) |
| Private Admonition of a Municipal Judge. (12/18/09) |
12/18/2009 |
In a news column, the judge identified himself as a judge, and then made specific comments about race to the extent that they were perceived by the public to be derogatory towards Whites, which called into question the judge's capacity to act impartially as a judge and cast public discredit on the judiciary and administration of justice. [Violation of Canon 4A(1) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct and Article 5, Section 1-a(6) of the Texas Constitution.] Private Admonition of a Municipal Judge. (12/18/09) |
| Private Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace. (12/18/09) |
12/18/2009 |
The judge failed to follow the law, demonstrated a lack of professional competence in the law, and denied a party the right to be heard according to law by: (a) continuing to preside over the parties' lawsuit and rendering decisions in the case for almost nine (9) months after advising the parties she was recusing herself from the matter; (b) granting a party ex parte request to "postpone" setting a trial date without providing opposing party notice and/or the opportunity to oppose the request; and (c) engaging in inadequate record-keeping practices in this matter, including her failure to make a written record of her decisions in three case and her failure to maintain a civil docket sheet recording the proceedings held in the case, as required by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. [Violation of Canons 2A, 3B(2), 3B(8) and 6C(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct]. Private Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace. (12/18/09) |
| Private Admonition of a County Judge. (1/14/10) |
01/14/2010 |
The judge attempted to use her position as judge in order to advance the private interests of her husband when she (a) advised her husband not to cooperate with the law enforcement and (b) informed the officer that if her husband were arrested, the judge would use her position to immediately release him. [Violation of Canon 2B of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct]. Private Admonition of a County Judge. (1/14/10) |
| Private Warning and Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace. (1/27/10) |
01/27/2010 |
The judge failed to comply with the law by: (a) failing to issue Magistrate's Orders for Emergency Protection in at least two family violence cases involving aggravated assault; (b) issuing multiple, inconsistent orders and instructions for a defendant's release; and (c) purporting to adjudicate a case involving a class A misdemeanor over which the judge lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. The judge further lent the prestige of his office by providing transportation for a defendant whom he had just magistrated. [Violations of Canons 2A, 2B and 4A(1) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct] Private Warning & Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace. (1/27/10) |
| Private Admonition of a Justice of the Peace. (1/27/10) |
01/27/2010 |
The judge failed to comply with the law by hiring a relative to work in her court. [Violation of Canon 2A of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct] Private Admonition of a Justice of the Peace. (1/27/10) |
| Private Reprimand of a District Judge. (2/3/10). |
02/03/2010 |
The judge failed to comply with the law and failed to maintain professional competence in the law by detaining certain juvenile non-offenders in a local juvenile detention center. [Violations of Canon 2A and 3B(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct] Private Reprimand of a District Judge. (2/3/10). |
| Private Warning and Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace. (2/24/10). |
02/24/2010 |
The judge failed to comply with the law and failed to demonstrate professional competence in the law by (1) consolidating five separate Class C misdemeanor charges (bad checks) against a defendant into one criminal complaint; (2) issuing warrants for the defendant's arrest and assessing warrants in four additional cases even though the defendant was already incarcerated; (3) assessing fines in each of the cases filed against the defendant in excess of the $500.00 statutory maximum allowed for Class C misdemeanors; (4) adding the face value of the "bad checks" written by the defendant to his total judgment, rather than ordering the defendant to pay the merchants these amounts as restitution; (5) failing to follow the procedures set forth in Article 45.046 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure prior to incarcerating the defendant; (6) failing to enter final, written judgments and/or written commitment orders in any of the cases against the defendant; (7) imposing a ten-day jail sentence in the defendant's contempt case in excess of the three-day maximum sentenced authorized by law; and (8) failing to maintain adequate and complete court records and docket sheets in the defendant's cases. [Violation of Canons 2A and 3B(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Warning & Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace. (2/24/10). |
| Private Admonition of a District Judge. (3/3/10). |
03/03/2010 |
The judge failed to accord a divorce petitioner the right to be heard when she dismissed his divorce petition for "want of prosecution" on two separate occasions without giving him the opportunity to appear. By failing to make an appropriate inquiry to determine whether the party intended to prosecute his default divorce case and/or whether he had made timely and appropriate attempts to appear in court to have his case heard, the judge denied him his fundamental right to access to the court. [Violation of Canons 2A and 3B(8) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition of a District Judge. (3/3/10). |
| Private Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace. (3/10/10) |
03/10/2010 |
The judge acted improperly in a truancy case when she (a) engaged in various ex parte communications with individuals regarding the merits of the pending case; (b) directed family members to meet in her office to try to resolve family conflicts; (c) conducted her own independent investigation to determine compliance with her order; and (d) "closed" the case based on her conversation with a third party/extra-judicial source. Additionally, in a separate case, the judge (a) failed to order a defendant in an MIP case to perform community service as a condition of his deferred disposition; (b) failed to order DPS to suspend the driver's licenses of two defendants convicted of MIP offenses; and (c) dismissed two citations that were pending in her court without a written motion from the prosecution. [Violation of Canons 2A, 3B(2), and 6C(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace. (3/10/10) |
| Private Order of Additional Education of a Municipal Judge. (3/30/10) |
03/30/2010 |
The judge failed to follow the law and failed to maintain professional competence in the law when he denied the first recusal motion on its merits instead of referring the motion to the presiding judge, as required in Rule 18a of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, and denied the second recusal motion as being untimely filed even though the motion was filed more than ten days prior to the scheduled trial date in accordance with Rule 18a. The judge continued to take action in the case while the recusal motions were still pending. [Violation of Canons 2A, and 3B (2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Order of Additional Education of a Municipal Judge. (3/30/10) |
| Private Admonition and Order of Additional Education of a Municipal Judge. (04/01/10) |
04/01/2010 |
The judge persistently failed to follow the law and demonstrated a pattern of failure to maintain professional competence in the law when he (a) granted deferred disposition to Commercial Driver's License holders who were cited for the offense of speeding; (b) improperly waived the statutory requirement for minors cited for consumption of alcohol to attend alcohol awareness programs and/or to perform community service; (c) placed a defendant's criminal case on "hold" for a year after the defendant informed the court that he was being deployed overseas; (d) placed a defendant on deferred disposition for a period of time in excess of the maximum 180 days allowed by law; (e) dismissed three traffic citations without a motion from the city prosecutor and/or without first placing the defendant on deferred disposition; and (f) failed to reduce his orders of deferred disposition and final judgments to writing. [Violation of Canons 2A and 3B(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition & Order of Additional Education of a Municipal Judge. (04/01/10) |
| Private Admonition of a Justice of the Peace. (04/21/10) |
04/21/2010 |
The judge, while acting as a magistrate, (a) routinely advised defendants of his opinion that a local towing company was charging excessive fees; (b) directed defendants to file complaints with local law enforcement agencies and/or with "Austin" with regard to the towing company's allegedly excessive fees; and (c) on at least one occasion questioned the "legal" status of the towing company. [Violation of Canon 2B of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition of a Justice of the Peace. (04/21/10) |
| Private Admonition of a District Judge. (05/17/10) |
05/17/2010 |
The judge misused the prestige of his judicial office to advance his personal interest by issuing a judicial order to prison officials ordering them to confiscate his personal response to a former client's attorney grievance against him. [Violation of Canon 2B of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition of a District Judge. (05/17/10) |
| Private Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace. (05/17/10) |
05/17/2010 |
The judge failed to follow the law and failed to maintain professional competence in the law when he (1) granted new trials without requiring a written motion showing good cause, and (2) granted a new trial and conducted a hearing more than 30 days after he had adjudicated the case. [Violation of Canons 2A and 3B(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace. (05/17/10) |
| Private Order of Additional Education of a Municipal Judge. (05/17/10). |
05/17/2010 |
The judge failed to obtain the mandatory judicial education hours during fiscal year 2009. [Violation of Canons 2A and 3B(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Order of Additional Education of a Municipal Judge. (05/17/10). |
| Private Admonition of a Former Municipal Judge. (05/17/10) |
05/17/2010 |
The judge failed to comply with the law and failed to maintain professional competence in the law when he found a juvenile's father in contempt of court and had him arrested before the time for compliance with the judge's order had expired. The judge's actions against the juvenile's father were premature and without authority. [Violation of Canons 2A and 3B(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition of a Former Municipal Judge. (05/17/10) |
| Private Warning of a County Court at Law Judge. (07/08/10) |
07/08/2010 |
The judge authorized the public use of her name endorsing another candidate for public office when she sent an e-mail communication expressly advocating that other individuals should vote for a specific candidate in the 2010 primary election. [Violation of Canon 5(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Warning of a County Court at Law Judge. (07/08/10) |
| Private Order of Additional Education of a Municipal Judge. (08/02/10) |
08/02/2010 |
The judge failed to comply with the law and demonstrated a lack of professional competence in the law in her handling of a request from a local law enforcement officer that she issue a subpoena duces tecum. [Violation of Canons 2A and 3B(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Order of Additional Education of a Municipal Judge. (08/02/10) |
| Private Admonition of a Justice of the Peace. (08/02/10) |
08/02/2010 |
The judge lent the prestige of his judicial office to advance his pastor's private interests by requesting special treatment from another judge presiding over the pastor's case. [Violation of Canon 2B of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition of a Justice of the Peace. (08/02/10) |
| Private Admonition of a Former Municipal Court Judge. (08/02/10). |
08/02/2010 |
The judge misused her judicial office to advance the private interest of others and engaged in extra-judicial activities that cast reasonable doubt on her capacity to act impartially as a judge by (a) improperly meddling in the administrative affairs at a secondary school; (b) going to the school and directly intervening in student affairs and disciplinary matters when no case relating to same was pending in her court; and (c) improperly asserting jurisdiction in cases involving students who were charged with offenses greater than a class C misdemeanor. [Violation of Canons 2A, 2B and 4A(1) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition of a Former Municipal Court Judge. (08/02/10). |
| Private Admonition and Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace. (08/04/10) |
08/04/2010 |
The judge failed to comply with the applicable Texas Rules of Civil Procedure by: (1) ordering a trial in an eviction case to be continued indefinitely and waiting almost eight months to then hold trial in the case; (2) failing to timely issue a writ of possession to a party after granting the party possession of the property; (3) failing to require a party to post an appeal bond and/or to file a pauper's affidavit attesting to his inability to post bond before transmitting the case to the county court on appeal. The judge further granted a party's ex parte request for a continuance and extension of time to vacate a premises without notice to the opposing party and/or without giving the opposing party the opportunity to be heard before making his ruling. [Violation of Canons 2A, 3B(2) and 6C(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition & Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace. (08/04/10) |
| Private Admonition of a Municipal Court Judge. (08/04/10) |
08/04/2010 |
The judge failed to notify the parties of a conflict of interest when she found her neighbor guilty of a city ordinance and assessed a fine. The case was filed in her court as a result of the judge's inquiry to a city code enforcement officer regarding her neighbor's property being in violation of a city ordinance. The judge further engaged in improper ex parte communication with an alleged victim in a case, and then failed to accord the defendant the right to be heard when she instructed her clerk not to provide notice to the defendant's attorney in the pending criminal matter. [Violations of Canons 2B, 3B(1), 3B(8), and 6C(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Admonition of a Municipal Court Judge. (08/04/10) |
