A judicial discipline panel is calling for the removal of an east Arkansas judge for his handling of a case seeking to reinstate a fired police chief.
A three-member panel of the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission on Tuesday recommended that L.T. Simes be removed from the bench. The full commission is expected to consider the panel’s recommendation during an Oct. 29 hearing.
Simes is accused of violating judicial rules of conduct when he sanctioned the then-mayor of West Helena and his attorney in the case of a fired West Helena police chief in 2005.
Simes already had been suspended from his job in November after the Arkansas Supreme Court concluded he practiced law while on the bench. In May, he won re-election to his seat after running unopposed.
There was no answer at a number listed for Simes.