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Allen Circuit Judge Thomas Felts was at work Monday handling domestic relations cases, days after his arrest in Indianapolis on a drunken-driving charge.
But whether he will return to his other duties handling the county’s felony criminal cases related to alcohol is a matter being discussed.
Felts was arrested early Friday just off Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis on a charge of public intoxication and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, both misdemeanors.
According to police, an officer with the Capital Police, a division of the Indiana State Police, pulled Felts over for failing to use his turn signal. When the 53-year-old judge went to put the car in park, he inadvertently put it in reverse, backing into the police car.
After Felts failed a field sobriety test, he provided two invalid breath tests and was charged, according to a police report.
Police obtained a search warrant and took a sample of Felts’ blood, which was turned over to the Indiana University Department of Toxicology for analysis. Information about the results of the test was unavailable Monday.
Felts said he is due to appear in a Marion County court for an initial hearing Wednesday.
One week a month, Felts trades weekly calendars with Circuit Magistrate Craig Bobay, handling domestic relations cases. This was one of those weeks, Felts said.
As the chief criminal judge in Allen County, Superior Judge Fran Gull said the criminal judges will help Felts in any way they can.
“If he would like us to help, we are more than willing to help him with his calendar,” she said.
The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications could still weigh in on the matter, and according to Meg Babcock, counsel for the commission, the commission does not need a formal complaint to do so. She declined to comment on Felts’ case.
If the commission decides to do so after it completes its inquiry, it can file formal charges with the Clerk of the Supreme Court, as it did last week against Allen Superior Judge Kenneth Scheibenberger. He is accused of cursing at the family of a defendant in another courtroom. Scheibenberger believed the defendant sold his late son drugs.
The commission can also take another route, Babcock said. Instead of filing formal charges, the commission and the judge can reach an agreement for a public admonishment, she said.
Such was the case in May against Carroll Circuit Judge Donald Currie, who was arrested in December on a charge of public intoxication. He was not charged with formal misconduct, according to records of the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications.
rgreen@jg.net
