On Thursday, October 23, 2025, My Herald Review reported that Keith D. Barth, a contracted magistrate serving both the City of Tombstone and the Town of Huachuca City, is nearing completion of mandatory training programs following a reprimand for inappropriate election activity. This marks Barth’s third reprimand since 2019, none of which are related to his conduct in the courtroom.

The Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct (CJC) issued an Order of Reprimand on June 9, 2025, after a complaint was filed against Barth concerning his involvement in the 2024 Santa Cruz County Sheriff election. As part of the informal sanction, Barth was required to attend two training programs offered by the National Judicial College: “Ethics and Judging” and “Special Considerations for the Rural Court Judge.” Records indicate that the first program is complete, while the second is scheduled to conclude in November. The cost of each program, $875, was borne by Barth himself.

In addition to the training programs, Judge Wendy Million of the Tucson City Court is mentoring and monitoring Barth for a period of six months. They meet twice a month to discuss ethical considerations, and Judge Million is responsible for providing reports to the CJC on the content of these meetings.

A second complaint filed with the CJC against Barth in 2024, concerning alleged personal conduct at a crime scene, was dismissed as part of the resolution of the election misconduct complaint.

The CJC’s investigation revealed that Barth participated in a Law Matters podcast in April 2024, during which he discussed and expressed support for the candidacy of Mario Morales, a former Santa Cruz County chief deputy sheriff, who was seeking the Democratic nomination for county sheriff. It was also announced that Barth would serve as chief deputy, also known as undersheriff, if Morales were elected. Morales ultimately lost in the primary election.

The Commission determined that Barth’s actions violated several provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct. These included Rule 1.2, which mandates that judges conduct themselves in a manner that promotes public confidence in the judiciary’s independence, integrity, and impartiality, avoiding any appearance of impropriety. Rule 1.3 which prohibits judges from exploiting the prestige of their office for personal or economic gain, or allowing others to do so. Additionally, Rule 3.1(C) was violated, which states that a judge shall not engage in activities that could reasonably undermine their independence, integrity, or impartiality, as his conduct in campaigning for a position in law enforcement while serving as a judge casts doubt on his impartiality.

The commissioners also took into account Barth’s prior reprimands related to election matters. In 2019, he was reprimanded for using the prestige of his judicial office in 2018 to advance his own interests in seeking election as Santa Cruz County sheriff. A key finding of that reprimand was that Barth publicly announced his candidacy while still holding a judicial office.

In 2020, the CJC again reprimanded Barth for new violations related to his bid for the sheriff’s office, including his campaign’s social media page referring to him as “Judge Barth” and using a photograph of him in a black robe.

 

 

Source: My Herald Review