The Arkansas Supreme Court suspended Don Bourne, Judge of the Pope County District Court, on Tuesday, August 9, 2022. The case is styled as ‘In the Matter of Judge Don Bourne’ with case number #D-22-478.

The judge was charged with violating Rule 1.1, Rule 1.2, Rule 2.3, Rule 2.3 (A), Rule 2.5 (A), and Rule 2.8 (B) of the Code of Judicial Conduct.

These ethics rules generally require:

A judge shall comply with the law, including the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct.

A judge shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.

A judge should perform the duties of judicial office, including administrative duties, without bias or prejudice.

A judge shall not, in the performance of judicial duties, by words or conduct manifest bias or prejudice, or engage in harassment, and shall not permit court staff, court officials, or others subject to the judge’s direction and control to do so.

A judge shall perform judicial and administrative duties, competently and diligently.

A judge shall be patient, dignified, and courteous to litigants, jurors, witnesses, lawyers, court staff, court officials, and others with whom the judge deals in an official capacity, and shall require similar conduct of lawyers, court staff, court officials, and others subject to the judge’s direction and control.

The judicial canons can be found here.

The order reads:

“Recently, several complaints have been filed against Judge Bourne involving his conduct toward unrepresented litigants. This conduct includes demeaning comments toward Spanish-speaking defendants and negative comments to defendants who are not from Pope County (Count 1). Other complaints concerned Judge Bourne’s failure to conduct proper indigency determinations and failure to keep adequate records (Count 2).”

The order stated that:

“Having reviewed the documents provided, along with mitigating factors, we accept the Commission’s findings of fact and recommendation of suspension. We suspend Judge Don Bourne from the bench without pay for ninety days, with seventy-five of those days held in abeyance if he completes or adheres to the agreed remedial measures.

Additionally, Judge Don Bourne shall never again hold a judicial office after his current term expires. This court notes that in addition to the public signal that a suspension without pay sends, the suspension also imposes a financial penalty of several thousands of dollars in lost pay. The suspension will begin on August 16, 2022. The mandate shall issue immediately.”

The Judge’s Courtroom is at 1506 East 2nd Street in Russellville and can be reached at 479-968-1393

A copy of the original filing can be found here.