Van Wert Municipal Court Judge Phil W. Campbell is shown testifying at his 2009 hearing before the Ohio Supreme Court Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline in Columbus. (TB file photo)
Van Wert Municipal Court Judge Phil W. Campbell is shown testifying at his 2009 hearing before the Ohio Supreme Court Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline in Columbus. (TB file photo)
BY ED GEBERT

Times Bulletin News Writer

egebert@timesbulletin.com

Van Wert Municipal Court is looking for a new judge after Phil W. Campbell resigned his position on Thursday after the Ohio Supreme Court Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline handed down his punishment stemming from judicial misconduct charges in 2009.

Campbell had his law license suspended for 12 months, with six months of the sentence stayed provided no other violations occurred during that period, after he was already seated at the bench for the morning session on Thursday. The sanction was essentially the same as was worked out at the Ohio Supreme Court Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline last year.

Rumors soon after the decision that Campbell had submitted his resignation to Governor Ted Strickland were confirmed by the Court late Thursday afternoon. According to Chris Davey of the Ohio Supreme Court Public Information Office, the letter was received late in the day.

"I am choosing to retire from my position as Van Wert County Municipal Court Judge, effective this date," started the letter.

Campbell continued on saying that "the Court had been dedicated to efficient and effective administration of justice. The Court staff, most law enforcement, and some attorneys have shared this ideal with professionalism and cooperation." He finished the resignation letter by stating it had become too difficult to operate within the current limitations.

In the slip opinion, the Court listed, "Judicial misconduct - Discipline - Improper investigation of a criminal manner - Failure to act in courteous, dignified manner - Improper use of judicial office to pressure persons into action - Improper handling of indigency determinations...".

With an opening on the Municipal Court bench, Davey stated action will be coming soon to remedy the situation.

"The Supreme Court staff will be working with local court officials to determine the best course. If it is necessary for a visiting judge or judges to be brought in, then that recommendation will be made to the Chief Justice who makes those assignments," Davey stated. "In these types of situations where you have an absence on the bench in a one-judge court, the Court moves quickly to assist in any way we can."

The Court determined that Campbell had committed 14 violations of the former Code of Judicial Conduct and the Code of Professional Responsibility, including one violation of Canon 1 (A judge shall uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary), nine violations of Canon 2 (A judge shall respect and comply with the law and shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary), one violation of Canon 3(B)(2) (A judge shall be faithful to the law and maintain professional competence in it), and three violations of Canon3(B)(4) (A judge shall be patient, dignified, and courteous to litigants, jurors, witnesses, lawyers and others with whom the judge deals in an official capacity, and shall require similar conduct of lawyers, and of staff, court officials, and others subject to the judge's direction and control).

On June 2, 2009, Campbell admitted to the violations which came from nine separate cases from 2003-2007. The admissions came at the outset of what was to be a four-day hearing before the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline in Columbus. Charges associated with a tenth case were dismissed and each side agreed to 125 stipulations of fact which included the violations.

In the 19-page slip opinion, the nine misconduct counts are reviewed, along with Campbell's admissions from the June 2, 2009 hearing. In describing the violations, the Court wrote that Campbell had injected himself into a criminal investigation and attempted to try an indigent defendant without appointing defense counsel.

The Court also wrote, "He behaved in an undignified, unprofessional, and discourteous manner toward attorneys and litigants in his courtroom. These actions, as well as his use of his judicial authority to gain access to a prosecutor's file and question the mayor, demonstrated disrespect for the law and served to erode public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary."

The opinion continues, "Furthermore (Campbell's) conduct caused harm, most notably to the indigent criminal defendants appearing in his courtroom who were temporarily deprived of appointed counsel and subject to unnecessary and embarrassing questions about their personal affairs... we find that (Campbell) has engaged in a pattern of misconduct involving multiple offenses and caused harm to vulnerable persons, namely criminal defendants appearing in his courtroom."

In the slip opinion, misconduct cases against Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judges Deborah P. O'Neill and Carole R. Squire are cited as being more serious violations since those two judges did not take responsibility for their misconduct as Campbell has done. Both O'Neill and Squire were given two-year suspensions with one year stayed.

Campbell did not return calls to the Times Bulletin for comment. He served as Van Wert Municipal Court judge beginning in March of 1987. His current term would have ended on Dec. 31, 2011.