Priv Warn and OAE of a DI (6/6/18)

The judge lent the prestige of his judicial office to advance the private interests of his court administrator and her family, failed to comply with the law and maintain professional competence in the law, improperly failed to recuse himself, and engaged in improper ex parte communications when he: (1) made repeated attempts to expedite a hearing in a probate matter in another court through communications with that court and its staff; (2) performed the magistration of his court administrator’s half-sister in a criminal case; (3) pressured an assistant district attorney in the criminal case to request a transfer of the case to his court; and (4) communicated to the assistant district attorney his dissatisfaction with the terms of a proposed plea agreement, and directed her to impose certain conditions on the sentence.  [Violation of Canons 2A, 2B, 3B(1), 3B(2) and 3B(8) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct and Article V, Section 1-a(6)A of the Texas Constitution.]  Private Warning and Order of Additional Education of a District Court Judge.  06/06/18.