Marion Superior judge faces week-long disciplinary case

A week-long hearing has been set in the disciplinary case against a Marion Superior judge who now faces 47 counts alleging she violated Rules of Judicial Conduct.

Judge Kimberly Brown’s hearings before special masters appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court will begin at 9 a.m. daily from Nov. 4 through Nov. 8. A panel of three special masters presided over by retired Monroe County Judge Viola Taliaferro will hear the case. Parties will confer by phone in a pre-trial conference Wednesday.

The Indiana Supreme Court appointed the special masters in response to a petition asking that Brown be suspended from the bench pending the outcome of the disciplinary case. Justices last month declined to suspend Brown.

Charges lodged by the Judicial Qualifications Commission assert that Brown’s actions of failure to act led to the delayed release of at least nine defendants, and that she created “a hostile environment for attorneys, court staff, clerks, and other court officials.” At least nine defendants spent one to 22 days in the Marion County Jail when they shouldn’t have, the counts say.

The statement of charges against Brown also asserts that between 2009 and January 2013, when Brown was elected to serve as judge either in Criminal Division 16 or 7, she failed to properly complete necessary paperwork and failed to properly train and supervise staff and court officers. She also is accused of improperly converting jury trials to bench trials and causing multiple needless delays.

The commission last week petitioned to add two more counts to the original 45. The new counts allege that Brown failed to issue an order in a case after her judgment of restitution was reversed by the Court of Appeals. She also is accused of failing to rule on a post-conviction relief petition filed by the same defendant.  

The case is In the Matter of the Honorable Kimberly J. Brown Judge of the Marion Superior Court, 49S00-1308-JD-560.