Panel to investigate judge over program

The Associated Press

A Pulaski County circuit judge faces accusations that he controlled a nonprofit corporation he required probationers to pay into, that he threatened his staff and had inappropriate contact with defendants in his court.

The Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission unsealed a series of charges Thursday against Judge Willard Proctor Jr. The commission, which oversees all the state’s judges, said in the filing it found evidence that Proctor created and ran Cycle Breakers Inc., a group aimed at reducing the rate of return to the criminal justice system.

Proctor had “significant participation” in Cycle Breakers, as well as his staff, the filing said. The charges accuse Proctor of handling the group’s finances, saying he received more than $34,000 from it while on the bench.

“Whether or not the actual expenses are improper or illegitimate, Judge Proctor’s financial involvement in this corporation is so intricate and pervasive as to violate many” judicial rules, the commission wrote.

Proctor has said part of the revenue Cycle Breakers generates is used for holding mandatory probation meetings during which participants receive free health screenings and advice. However, the commission accuses Proctor of having inappropriate relationships with defendants, acting as “a counselor, spiritual adviser, probation officer and mentor.”

The commission also said Cycle Breakers continued to collect fees from defendants who had already been released from probation. Some who failed to pay were put in jail after Proctor issued warrants for their arrest, the commission said.

Some inmates “can truthfully answer that they are not convicted of a crime,” the commission said. “Yet, they are put in jail.”

Proctor did not return a message left at his office Thursday.

A hearing for Proctor before the commission has yet to be set.