In Justice of the Peace Thomas Jones' busy and chaotic South Dallas court, numerous people were on the receiving end of unjustified arrest warrants, court rulings and fines because of clerical mistakes and the judge's decisions, according to a civil action filed against the judge by state judicial regulators.
JIM MAHONEY/DMN
Justice of the Peace Thomas Jones has said complaints against him were a result of long lines in his court.Jones, 65, whose questionable methods have already resulted in three state sanctions, now faces another discipline attempt by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
A civil trial will be held in Dallas later this year after which the commission will either dismiss the case, issue a public censure against Jones or ask the Supreme Court to remove him from office.
Jones has until Monday to file an answer to the complaints. Neither he nor his lawyer, Marc Richman, could be reached Thursday for comment. Jones has said previously that the complaints were made because of frustration over long lines in his court.
The 12 complaints against Jones, including one by another justice of the peace, paint a picture of indifference, incompetence, misconduct and mismanagement in his court. The accusations suggest Jones prefers to run his court according to his own rules, with serious consequences - like arrest - for those who question him.
Defendants were refused jury trials, hearings weren't set, parties weren't notified of hearings or trials, and one woman wasn't allowed to present evidence at her trial, according to the state report obtained Thursday by The Dallas Morning News.
Busy court
Not even two justices of the peace from different counties could get anywhere when they tried to intervene to get improper arrest warrants cleared, the report said.
In those cases, Jones refused to drop the warrants against men who had already pleaded guilty in the other judges' courts and paid their fines, the report said.
The commission alleges in its report that Jones' actions violated the Texas Constitution, state statutes and numerous judicial canons, which are rules governing judicial conduct.
Jones' court is in the busiest JP precinct in the state, where long lines to pay traffic tickets and file legal papers are common.
Seana Willing, the commission's executive director, said being overworked or having a large docket is not an excuse for mismanagement.
"The litigants and citizens of the State of Texas have a right to walk into a courthouse and receive justice," she said.
A narrow majority of Dallas County commissioners voted in February to hire Richman to represent Jones before the commission for $250 an hour. Normally, the district attorney's civil division would represent Jones, but he asked commissioners for a private lawyer.
The county so far has paid Richman $3,438, invoice records show.
Jones became the Oak Cliff precinct's first black justice of the peace when he was elected in 1990.
Commissioner John Wiley Price, whose district is served by Jones' court, said he gets complaints about justices of the peace "all the time." Price said that staffing levels in Jones' court are sufficient but that the court has needed help from time to time when it gets busy.
"They're inundated over there," Price said. "It's bedlam."
Price said he isn't sure whether the alleged problems are driven by the judge or his staff. He said Jones is entitled to his day in court.
"They're just complaints," he said.
What he's accused of
One complaint came from a mother who went to Jones' court with her 16-year-old son over a speeding ticket. Jones had her handcuffed and arrested for contempt of court when she spoke up after Jones told her to "shut her mouth," the report said.
Another complaint came from a man who requested a trial and was never notified of the date, resulting in an arrest warrant being issued against him. He found out about it when he got a call from the county's collections law firm, demanding payment of his fine, the report said.
A Navarro County justice of the peace, Vicki Gray, complained after her attempts to clear an improper arrest warrant issued by Jones went nowhere.
When Lonnie D. Ward pleaded guilty in her court in 2005, Gray collected half of his fine and credited him for the remainder due to the time he spent in jail.
Gray sent Jones' court the paperwork because he had issued the arrest warrants. But the warrants remained active. Ward couldn't get any help from Jones' clerks, who had treated him rudely, the state report said.
The following year, Ward sought Gray's help because the warrants still hadn't been cleared and Jones' clerks told him he owed $900.
When Gray called to sort it out, D. Williams, a clerk, wouldn't let her speak with Jones and refused to help, according to the report. Williams told her to call Price, the county commissioner, if she had any more questions or problems, the report said.
"After telling Judge Gray to look up Price's number herself, Williams hung up on her," the report said.
A similar case occurred several years earlier, according to the report. Judge B. Wayne Hayes, a Parker County justice of the peace, was unable to get an arrest warrant against Jerry Lee Godsey cleared.
Godsey had pleaded guilty to the charges in Hayes' court, but the warrants hadn't been cleared, according to the report.
