Judge who smoked inside juvenile courthouse broke policy he’s supposed to enforce
A Tarrant County judge who hosted a late night poker game and smoked cigars inside of the Juvenile Justice Center broke a policy that he’s supposed to enforce, officials said.
Judge Alex Kim hosted a handful of men at the courthouse to play poker and “get away from their wives” in August, according to incident reports and surveillance footage obtained by the Star-Telegram.
Asked for an explanation of what happened that night, specifically what the men were doing and what they were drinking, Kim said he just “had some friends over” and that nothing illegal or improper happened. Then he said he would not comment further.
However, Kim broke the county and city ordinances by smoking inside of a public building. The building also houses juvenile offenders.
Security officers who confronted the men at about 1:20 a.m. wrote in an incident report that Kim’s office smelled smoky.
Tarrant County Administrator G.K. Maenius said the county has a tobacco free workplace policy, but that the people in charge of forcing those policies are department heads and judges — meaning Kim is supposed to enforce the policy he broke.
Asked if Kim faces a reprimands from the county, Maenius said the judge “answers directly to the voters.”
Kim won his judicial race in November 2018 by 23,045 votes, claiming 51.7% of the vote over James C. Teel.
Maenius said the only thing the county would do is send Kim a letter that would explain they were made aware of the video and that the policy does not allow for smoking inside.
Others who have been identified in the video include Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department Chief of Staff David McClelland and Shane Nolen, who was an associate judge with the Tarrant County Juvenile Court at the time. He was fired by Kim in November because of a unspecified rules violation.
Nolen is seeking the state district judge’s position in the 96th District Court in 2020. He has not returned a message for comment.
McClelland confirmed to the Star-Telegram that he is in the video from that evening, but that he didn’t have any other comment to give.
Multiple messages left for Sheriff Bill Waybourn have not been returned.
Austin-based attorney Lillian Hardwick, a judicial ethics expert who co-authored the handbook of Texas Lawyer and Judicial Ethics, said Kim’s poker game violates the state Code of Judicial Conduct, which says that extra-judicial activities cannot “cast reasonable doubt on the judge’s capacity to act impartially as a judge” or interfere with the judge’s performance.
“He’s wasn’t on the bench, but he’s in his chambers, in the courthouse and there’s a problem there,” Hardwick said. “It casts reasonable doubt. That’s not what people elect judges to do.”
Hardwick also said the poker game violates the state Constitution, which says activities that are inconsistent with the proper performance of duties or that “cast public discredit upon the judiciary or the administration of justice” violate the Code of Judicial Conduct.
It’s likely the Texas Judicial Conduct Commission, which investigates complaints against judges, will open an investigation into the incident, Hardwick said.
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 12:03 PM.
