Suspended By Texas Bar, Judge Will Stay on Bench
A Texas judge has been suspended for three months for representing a client while on administrative suspension for not paying his bar association dues, prior to assuming the bench.
But the suspension won’t require District Judge Bruce Priddy to step down from his judicial duties, reports the Dallas Morning News.
“He was qualified when he stood for election,” says Seana Willing, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct’s executive director. “The fact that he, for the next three months, will have his license suspended, I don’t think it’s a constitutional disqualification.”
Also, the suspension may not be the final answer to the client complaint that led to Priddy’s suspension, the newspaper notes. He can still appeal it, which he has said he intends to do.
Meanwhile, he has some other personal cases to keep him busy when he’s not on the bench. Priddy faces trial in November on a charge of suspicion of driving under the influence (he says he is a diabetic with a coordination problem) and he is still clearing up the final loose ends in a lawsuit brought by the Texas attorney general’s office last year over his failure to file campaign finance reports with the Texas Ethics Commission as required.
Priddy still owes a $500 late filing fee and several thousand dollars in attorney fees, the article states. However, he has already paid $31,500 in fines voluntarily, and another $7,900 through a bank account garnishment. He may still need to file a few more reports, though, to conclude the case.
The case is the first time a sitting judge has been sued by the Texas attorney general’s office, the newspaper says.
