Rumson’s municipal court judge has been suspended without pay, the Asbury Park Press reported Tuesday.
Judge Richard B. Thompson, a Middletown attorney who also serves a municipal judge in eight other towns, was suspended Friday from all nine judgeships pending an investigation by New Jersey’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, the Press reported.
From the report:
Superior Court Judge Lisa P. Thornton, assignment judge for Monmouth County, signed the suspension order after it was brought to her attention that Thompson “may have violated the Code of Judicial Conduct by failing to follow the statutes, policies, and procedures for sentencing penalties and fines, in violation of Canons 1 and 2 of the Code of Judicial Conduct,’’ Thornton wrote in her order.
The underlying reason for the suspensions was not publicly known. The Press said Thornton didn’t elaborate on the possible violations in her order, and a call to her chambers was referred to Winnie Comfort, a spokeswoman for the state judiciary, who told the Press she had no information beyond the judge’s order.
According to the Press, Thompson sits as judge in Bradley Beach, Colts Neck, Eatontown, Middletown, Neptune City, Oceanport, Tinton Falls and Union Beach, in addition to Rumson, and earned $217,500 from judgeships in 2014, when he was on the bench in six municipalities.
