The state Commission on Judicial Conduct said Guilford Town Justice Jeremy Persons should be removed from office for inappropriate sexual comments and other serious misconduct.
According to a media release, the commission issued its findings on April 10, and found that Persons:
—Made sexually charged comments to and about attorneys appearing in his court.
—Displayed inappropriate bumper stickers on his car which he typically parked near the non-public entrance to the court, where it was visible to police officers and/or defendants in custody:
—Failed to respond and appear on traffic charges, resulting in two suspensions of his driver’s license. Persons also failed to renew his car insurance, which also resulted in the suspension of his driver’s license.
—In eventually responding to his traffic tickets, gave the court clerk his @nycourts.gov email address, which resulted in the court clerk making a notation on his file that he was “a judge at Guilford, NY.”
—Carried his handgun in a hip-holster which was easily visible when he was not wearing his judicial robe, notwithstanding that his pistol permit required the pistol to be concealed. Additionally, on one occasion Persons placed his handgun on the bench when a public defender was appearing before him.
—Failed to file required monthly reports with the state comptroller in a timely manner, which resulted in his salary being stopped.
—Failed to cooperate with a subsequent Office of Court Administration audit of his court records, which resulted in an order that all his pending cases be assigned to another judge and no new cases be assigned to him.
—Failed to cooperate during the commission’s investigation and proceedings.
“Judge Persons committed a remarkable array of misconduct, warranting his removal from the bench,” Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian said in the release. “In court, judges must set an example of civility and propriety. In public, they must respect and abide by the laws they enforce on others. Judge Persons did neither. His offensive sexual comments in court, the gratuitous displays of a firearm, his failure to account for court funds, the disregard of his own traffic tickets, and his failure to cooperate with investigating entities — demonstrated his unfitness for judicial office.”
Persons, who is not an attorney, has served as a justice of the Guilford Town Court since 2020, the release said. His current term expires on Dec. 31, 2023.
According to the release, the commission issued a written complaint to Persons on July 13, 2022, containing seven charges, which Persons did not answer. Tembeckjian moved for summary determination on Nov. 4, which Persons did not answer, and the motion was granted on Dec. 15, determining that the factual allegations of the complaint were sustained and the judge’s misconduct was established, the release said. Counsel to the commission filed a brief arguing for the judge’s removal and waived oral argument unless the judge appeared, the release said. Persons did not make a submission on the issue of sanction, respond to the administrator’s brief or appear for oral argument. The commission approved the removal on Feb. 23.
The case will now go to the chief judge of the Court of Appeals. The court may accept the determined sanction, impose a different sanction including admonition, censure or removal, or impose no sanction, the release said.