A far western Kentucky circuit court judge temporarily suspended in August on misconduct charges was hit Tuesday with a pair of additional charges. Now, 42nd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Jamie Jameson — who presides over Marshall and Calloway counties — is facing six total charges.
The two new charges, according to Judicial Conduct Commission (JCC) documents, are for obstructing justice by impeding the agency’s authority and being noncompliant. Specifically, the charges allege Jameson “intimidated witnesses” and “attempted to dissuade” his judicial staff from complying with a subpoena.
Jameson did not immediately return a request for comment.
Jameson moved in late September for a subpoena to be quashed or limited that aimed at collecting all documents — including emails, texts, letters, reports and audio recordings — in the court’s possession stemming from the charges the judge is facing. His representation argued the subpoena was “overly broad” and could potentially encompass privileged documents protected by confidentiality.
The judge’s representation referenced a “box of documents” at his Benton office that would need to be gone through to ensure that protected or privileged documents are not improperly disclosed.
His motion was granted in part and denied in part. The JCC agreed any documents protected by the attorney-client privilege should not be produced, but ruled that any document in the “box of documents” that was “responsive to the subpoena” and not protected would be disclosed. Further, the JCC ruled that a privilege log describing the nature of protected documents in the aforementioned box would be created to enable counsel to assess claims of privilege.
The charges also reference multiple calls from Jameson to the JCC to complain about a subpoena.
The charges also state Jameson “failed to adhere to the terms” of his suspension by contacting his staff in the first place. Specifically, the charges say that he continued to “access court resources” after his Aug. 15 suspension.
“You have continued to access your judicial e-mail account and contact your staff members for purposes related to your judicial role. For example, you accessed your AOC e-mail account on August 19, 2022 and set up a Teams meeting with your staff attorney and administrative support specialist,” the charges read. “Then in September 2022, you contacted your staff to request delivery of an AOC laptop docking station. You continue to have in your possession and to use two KCOJ laptops. You have also contacted your staff to request copies of AOC documents and materials to which you no longer had access.”
The original four charges include allegations associated with an ankle monitoring program, allegedly engaging in retaliatory actions which deviated from conduct standards and another count for allegedly pressuring attorneys to donate to his ongoing re-election campaign.
Kentucky Chief Justice John Minton appointed and assigned judges to cover Jameson’s docket until legal proceedings on charges of misconduct conclude. Retired Judge David Buckingham is covering the district court docket during Jameson’s suspension and Family Court Judge Stephanie Perlow is serving as the temporary chief circuit court judge.
Jameson’s next appearance before the Judicial Conduct Commission will be Oct. 17.
