PUTNUM COUNTY JUDGE REPRIMANDED FOR ORDERING RESTITUTION TO HIMSELF
PUTNAM COUNTY, Tenn. — A Tennessee judge was reprimanded Tuesday for accepting a guilty plea from a man who hit his car, the judge then ordered the defendant to pay him restitution.
After the defendant struck and damaged Putnam County Judge R. Steven Randolph’s car, he was charged for driving without a license but not charged for the accident.
On March 25, Judge Randolph came up with the idea of imposing a stipulation that if the defendant pled guilty to the one charge, he would pay Randolph $590.19 directly, which was the cost estimate of the repair. It was also agreed the defendant could pay the restitution in payments.
The defendant, who was not fluent in English, required a translator, and was not represented by a lawyer, decided to plead guilty.
On April 1, however, Randolph set aside the guilty plea and another judge dismissed the case. As a result, Randolph did not get any of the restitution money.
According to Randolph, the defendant was informed that this was a conflict of interest and willingly waived the disqualification of the case.
Randolph also said the amount of money that was to be paid was “minuscule.”
He claimed that any violation he may have made was “technical and not substantive.” Randolph did say that, in hindsight, he should not have been the judge hearing this case.
The investigative panel said they hope the public reprimand of Judge Randolph will
..result in an elevated consciousness about [his] ethical responsibilities as a judge, as neglecting those responsibilities not only reflects poorly upon the individual judge but undermines public confidence in the integrity o
f the judicial system and the administration of justice.
