On Thursday, November 13, 2025, the Louisiana Judiciary Commission recommended a one-year suspension without pay for Shreveport City Court Judge Sheva Sims, following an investigation into multiple allegations of ethical misconduct. The commission also suggested that Sims should reimburse the agency $11,602 to cover the costs associated with the investigation. The final decision regarding the penalty will be made by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
The investigation into Sims’ conduct began in 2024, prompted by complaints alleging “multiple instances and types of ethical misconduct” that reflected her “continued belief that her position as a judge enables her to act with impunity,” according to the commission’s report.
The allegations against Sims include accusations from landlords who described her behavior as “rude and demeaning.” They claimed that she improperly denied eviction requests. Furthermore, the report cited anonymous complaints stating that Sims “used a court-owned car for her own personal commute for several weeks and instructed court marshals to provide the fuel.”
Additional accusations included that she “failed to impose a mandatory bail condition for a defendant charged with a second offense of driving under the influence” and “released several defendants charged with domestic abuse battery of crimes of violence on their own recognizance.” The report also stated that she “gave one defendant credit for time served before the occurrence of the traffic offense before her.”
The Judiciary Commission’s report concluded that Sims “continues to treat the court as her fiefdom and is indifferent to whether she is abusing or exceeding her judicial authority and acting contrary to the law or her ethical obligations.”
During the hearings on the matter, Sims defended her actions. She testified that she did not have access to her personal vehicle at the time and acknowledged using the court-owned car overnight and on weekends, but denied using it for personal purposes. She explained that the defendants were released “due to medical issues, issues with the jail, or because the prosecutor and defense reached an agreement to dismiss the charges upon completion of a diversion or probation program.”
Sims acknowledged some legal errors but argued that they “should not give rise to a complaint and/or discipline.”
Out of the Commission’s 14 members, eleven concurred with the findings. Eight voted for a one-year suspension, while two advocated for Sims’ removal from office. One member proposed a six-month suspension, and three members were absent during the vote.
In 2015, Sims was previously suspended without pay for 30 days “after she held a prosecutor in contempt for conduct that was not contemptuous and impermissibly dismissed 15 of the prosecutor’s criminal cases without any legal authority to do so, which were actions solely based upon Judge Sims’ personal frustration with the prosecutor’s justified refusal to privately meet with her,” according to the report.
The Commission had also previously admonished her “for being habitually late for court” and for demanding that a deputy marshal be disciplined after he told another judge that she had improperly recessed her court.
Sims, who was elected to the court in 2011, earned a salary of $103,652 as of 2024, according to public records.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
