Vermont Supreme Court suspends judge
Toolbox
By Susan Smallheer STAFF WRITER - Published: May 2, 2009
WOODSTOCK — Longtime Windsor County assistant judge William Boardman was suspended from his judicial and administrative duties for six months Friday by the Vermont Supreme Court, which agreed with the state's judicial disciplinary board that Boardman had acted unethically involving the sale of county property.
Boardman, one of the county's two side or assistant judges, was disciplined over his dual roles with a nonprofit group called Emerge, which provides a place for divorced families and their children to meet under supervision.
At the heart of Boardman's disciplinary case is the role he played in selling the former Windsor County sheriff's department to Emerge, and his decision not to sell it to the town of Hartford, which made a higher offer in cash for the White River Junction property.
"The conflict of interest inherent in the Emerge transaction was patent," the high court noted.
Boardman was one of the founders of Emerge, and the nonprofit agency is the only such agency to currently receive funding from the county, the high court's decision noted.
Boardman serves on the board of Emerge, and had said he removed himself from any board meeting where the purchase of the property was discussed.
But the high court noted that Boardman, as side judge, negotiated the other half of the sale.
Boardman, contacted by e-mail Friday, first said he hadn't seen the decision and later said he wasn't ready to offer a comment about the decision. He didn't return telephone messages.
He has maintained that there was no conflict of interest on the Emerge matter and he didn't violate any judicial code of ethics.
"We also concluded that an additional sanction is necessary to restore and enhance public confidence in an impartial judiciary," the high court wrote.
"We are concerned about the appearance of impropriety resulting from respondent's participation in any family court case in which Emerge was, is or might be engaged to provide parent contact," the high court added.
The high court rejected a friend of the court brief from the Vermont Association of County Judges, which asked that the high court stay away from discipline affecting his administrative duties, noting that two judges were needed to administer county government.
But the high court rejected that point as well. "We see no reason why it would not apply a similar approach to administrative matters," the court agreed.
The court rejected the second disciplinary count, which dealt with a press release Boardman sent out in 2006 during his last election campaign, complaining that one of his campaign signs had been stolen from a Quechee location.
But it turns out that the property owner had removed the sign, and Boardman never corrected the original press release.
The high court said there was inadequate evidence to find that Boardman acted improperly when he did not correct the original press release.
"We are unable to find by clear and convincing evidence that respondent's conduct in this matter was inconsistent with the integrity and independence of the judiciary," the court wrote.
susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com
31