Judiciary
Judge reprimanded for ordering payment of restitution to himself
A judge in Putnam County, Tennessee, has received a public reprimand for accepting a guilty plea and imposing restitution in a case involving damage to his truck.
The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct reprimanded Judge R. Steven Randolph of Tennessee in an Oct. 14 letter, the Legal Profession Blog reports.
The defendant was charged only with driving without a license, despite damaging Randolph’s truck. Randolph accepted a guilty plea March 25 and ordered the defendant to pay restitution of $590, which was for the estimated cost to repair his vehicle, according to the reprimand letter. The restitution payment “was solely [Randolph’s] idea,” the letter said.
The defendant was not represented by a lawyer, and he did not speak English. He was assisted by an interpreter, however.
When the defendant asked to pay in installments, Randolph granted the request. No money was ever paid, however, because Randolph set aside the guilty plea in an April 1 order, and a different judge dismissed the case.
Randolph had maintained that the defendant waived the judge’s disqualification in the case, and the amount of restitution was minuscule. He acknowledged, however, that he shouldn’t have heard the case.
Even though Randolph informed the defendant about his conflict of interest, he did not follow proper procedure, the reprimand letter said. The only chance the defendant had to consider the waiver was in the presence of the judge and court personnel.
Henry Fincher, Randolph’s lawyer, did not immediately respond to an ABA Journal voicemail seeking comment.
Randolph previously received a public reprimand in September 2023 for posting a video to a Putnam County school’s Instagram page in which he pledged to “really crack down on truancy problems.” Unexcused absences would result in a sentence of seven hours of community service at the recycling center for the student and possible incarceration for parents, he said.
