Apr. 25—Delaware County’s current chief assistant district attorney resigned as town justice while being investigated by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct.
According to a media release from the state commission, Prattsville Town Judge David Rikard refused to cooperate with the commission during its investigation of three complaints against him by refusing to provide documents the commission requested and to appear for testimony when summoned by the commission. According to the stipulation between Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian and Rikard dated March 10, the complaints involved allegations of inappropriate demeanor, unauthorized political activity and poor financial reporting and accounting practices.
Even though Rikard resigned, the commission’s inquiry continued and Rikard was served with formal disciplinary charges on Jan. 26, for failure to cooperate, the release said. “Under the Judiciary Law, the Commission has 120 days from a judge’s resignation to issue a determination that the judge should be removed. Under the Constitution, a removed judge is ineligible to hold judicial office again,” the release said.
“Cooperation is mandatory, not optional, when judges are called to account by the Judicial Conduct Commission,” Tembeckjian said in the release. “Stonewalling or otherwise refusing to participate undermines public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary and can result in removal from office.”
According to the stipulation, Rikard responded to the formal disciplinary charges on Feb. 16, in which he admitted the factual allegations of the charge but denied that they constituted misconduct.
Rikard signed a stipulation on March 10, which said he will not seek election nor will he accept appointment to judicial office again. The commission accepted the stipulation on April 20. According to the release, the commission has accepted 126 such stipulations since the procedure was instituted in 2003.
Rikard said in his Jan. 6, resignation letter he was elected to three terms as the Prattsville town justice and served more than nine years. Rikard also said he was resigning in order to accept the position of chief assistant district attorney in Delaware County.
Delaware County Acting District Attorney Shawn Smith announced Rikard was appointed as chief assistant district attorney on Feb. 6. A call to Smith was not returned as of press time.