LITTLE ROCK, Ark.
State judicial panel documents show that a district judge in north Arkansas has been accused of violating the state judicial code by becoming "very angry" over a staff shortage and retaliating against county officials.
District Judge Jerry Patterson of Marshall reportedly became angry that the Searcy (SUR'-see) County Quorum Court in December eliminated a part-time probation officer from his staff who had helped collect fines and fees for the court. That's according to a filing by Director David Stewart of the state Judicial Discipline and Disablity Commission.
Patterson then sent defendants to the county judge's office to pay fines, although the county judge, an administrator, cannot accept court fines and fees, the accusation said. In addition, Patterson told people who appeared in court June 25 on driving-while-intoxicated charges that their "fines are pardoned with amnesty," Stewart's filing said. He allegedly said, "The county doesn't need your money."
Patterson said in a telephone interview today that the accusation grossly mischaracterizes his actions. He said that he never became angry at the quorum court -- that he sent people to the county judge's office to ask where they should pay their fines because the judge's office had no one to collect money -- and that he forgave the fines owed by those who appeared before him June 25 because they could not pay a lump sum and he had no installment plan set up.
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