Arrested Judge Margaret Huddleston Back in Court Judge Others

Family Court Judge Margaret Huddleston was back on the bench Monday, two days after her arrest on charges of careless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol.

What happens next - for her or any other judge who falls foul of the law - is unclear.

Officer Barry Pruitt, spokesman for the Bowling Green Police Department, said Huddleston’s citation has been turned over to Warren County Attorney Amy Milliken’s office for prosecution.

It’s unlikely to stay there, however: Should the case be judged to present a conflict of interest for local authorities, it might be turned over to the Special Prosecutions Unit of the Attorney General’s Office, according to Shelley Catharine Johnson, deputy communications director for Attorney General Jack Conway.

Since Milliken and other lawyers from her office are before Huddleston in family court every day, Milliken said such a conflict certainly exists, and she’s already taking steps to send the case to an impartial figure outside Warren County.

“Yesterday I wrote the Office of the Attorney General a letter requesting that a special prosecutor be appointed,” she said.

Beyond possible prosecution, Kentucky does have a mechanism for dealing with judges’ ethical conflicts.

When judges are charged with crimes, the state’s Judicial Conduct Commission monitors those cases until they’re concluded, said Jim Lawson, the commission’s executive secretary. If a conviction results, the commission then begins considering what action to take, he said.

“In a first offense DUI case, I think it’s generally a public reprimand,” Lawson said.

The commission is the only entity authorized under the state constitution to take disciplinary action against a sitting judge, according to the commission’s Web site.

Possible sanctions range from confidential reprimands - for minor technical violations - to removal for serious misconduct.

“Criminal conduct” is on the list of items that may lead to disciplinary actions.

Huddleston has been a family court judge in Warren County since the court was created in 1998, dealing with divorce, custody and parental rights, domestic violence, neglect and juvenile offenses.

She was arrested outside her house shortly after midnight Saturday. A Bowling Green police officer saw Huddleston driving too slowly, hesitating at stop signs and crossing the center line, according to a city police report. She did not stop when the officer turned on his emergency lights, so the officer followed her to her driveway, the report said.

A breath test registered more than twice the legal limit for blood alcohol content, and Huddleston was lodged in Warren County Regional Jail. She was later released on an unsecured bond, and hasn’t returned several calls seeking comment.