Smith County Judge Joel Baker Suspended
Posted/updated on: June 22, 2016 at 3:04 pmTYLER – The State Commission of Judicial Conduct has suspended Smith County Judge Joel Baker without pay. During Tuesday’s commissioners court meeting, a release from Seana Willing, Executive Director of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, was issued saying the suspension takes effect immediately. Baker remains free on bond after, last week, being indicted, arrested, and charged with three counts of violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. He allegedly held illegal closed meetings to discuss a red-light traffic enforcement contract. He is also under investigation for allegations he was involved in explicit sexual behavior online while conducting government business.
After Judge Baker’s suspension, JoAnn Fleming of Tyler, Executive Director of Grassroots America We The People, issued the following statement:
“Although it is an uncommon development in government – and even rarer for our community – Grassroots America believes the State Commission on Judicial Conduct’s immediate suspension of Judge Joel P. Baker without pay is justified and right for the people of Smith County. All public servants, and especially those in the judicial branch of government, must be held to a higher ethical standard than the general public.”
“We believe the Attorney General’s investigation and the resulting three counts on which the grand jury indicted Judge Baker lend credence to what Grassroots America asserted in its formal complaint and investigation request – that the County Judge and Commissioners had violated the Texas Open Meetings Act during the process which resulted in a ten-year contract with American Traffic Solutions, Inc.”