On Wednesday, June 28, 2023, the State of Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct publicly reprimanded Honorable Grace Uzomba, judge at County Court at Law no. 2, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas for failing to timely execute the business of the court regarding compliance hearings, tend to records she alone must review and sign in order for the judicial records to be properly kept, and make recording of the compliance hearings.

According to the filing, the Commission received a complaint from Judge John Longoria, the local administrative judge for Bexar County Courts at Law and the Presiding Judge of Bexar County Court at Law no. 5. According to Judge Longoria, Judge Uzomba failed to respond to his letter dated August 25, 2020, where he addressed specific concerns about her performance. The letter explicitly required her to provide a written response. The complaints raised in the August 25, 2020 letter included the following: failure or refusal to review and rule on critical motions to revoke probation and reports of violations; failure to timely and efficiently handle matters related to judicial records that require her review and signature for proper record-keeping; and failure to perform her duties as a judge in a timely and efficient manner, leading to an excessive number of unscheduled cases as of the beginning of August 2020.

In her written response to the commission, Judge Uzomba refuted the allegations of failing or refusing to review and rule on motions and reports. She also denied any negligence in handling matters related to the records essential for proper judicial record-keeping. Addressing the large backlog of unscheduled cases in her court, Judge Uzomba explained that the absence of critical support staff and her meticulous review of paperwork, which often reveals errors from the community supervision and corrections department, contributed to the issue. She emphasized her active role in conducting performance review hearings with probationers, aiming to identify and address any obstacles hindering their compliance and successful completion of probation. Judge Uzomba asserted that she takes a more proactive and involved approach compared to most judges. She acknowledged that any errors made were unintentional and stemmed from the circumstances rather than being willful or unjustified.

The filing states:

“I hold regular performance review hearings with probationers who are currently being supervised, and who may be in violation of their agreements, to determine what obstacles are keeping them from being fully compliant and successfully completing their probation. . take a very active role in supervising probationers who come through my court. I am far more proactive and involved than most Judges.” She concludes, “Any mistakes I have made have been honest and in good faith given the circumstances rather than willful or unjustified.”

The filing continues:

“Judge Uzomba testified that it has always been her practice to ensure an accurate record is kept in compliance hearings which were either by audio recording, saved to the cloud, conducted via Zoom and/or livestreamed on YouTube or recorded by a court reporter. Judge Uzomba stated she advised probationers of their right to counsel and gave them time to hire an attorney or apply for a court-appointed attorney. Also, she requested the Bexar County Public Defender’s office to provide an assistant public defender for her court, but according to the judge, her requests were continually denied. In 2019, Judge Uzomba had three defense attorneys volunteer, at a flat rate, to be available for representation of any probationer who wanted to consult a defense attorney.”

The filing further states:

“According to Judge Uzomba, once she was made aware of the overtime issue, she did everything in her power to make sure compliance hearings ended before 5 p.m. On June 9, 2022, Judge Longoria issued a memo to the Bexar County Court Judges advising them of the concerns raised regarding the manner in which Judge Uzomba was handling her criminal court docket. Judge Longoria redistributed approximately 1700 cases to the other Bexar County Court at Law Courts and took Judge Uzomba’s court off the arraignment rotation for criminal courts.”

In relation to the aforementioned factual findings, the commission cited Article V, Section I-a(6)A of the Texas Constitution which provides, in relevant part, that a judge shall not engage in “willful or persistent conduct” that “is clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of his duties or casts public discredit upon the judiciary. Based on these facts and the rule cited, the commission decided to publicly reprimand the respondent.

The Disposition states:

“Based on the record before it and the factual findings recited above, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct has determined that the Honorable Grace Uzomba, Judge of the County Court at Law No. 2 in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, should be publicly reprimanded for failing to: (l) timely execute the business of the court regarding compliance hearings, (2) tend to records she alone must review and sign in order for the judicial records to be properly kept, and (3) make recording of the compliance hearings. Judge Uzomba’s failure in this respect constituted willful and/or persistent failure to timely execute the business of the court that is clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of her duties and that cast public discredit upon the judiciary or the administration of justice, in violation Article V, Section I of the Texas Constitution.”

On October 24, 2022, the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct also publicly reprimanded  Judge Uzomba for detaining a defendant for not attending a religious retreat that wasn’t included in his probation agreement. The respondent admitted the said allegations stating, “I willingly acknowledge that I have made mistakes as a new judge pursuing my belief of restorative and rehabilitative justice. However, I reaffirm that any mistakes I made were isolated and made in good faith, without any improper purpose.”

The Judge’s Courtroom is located at Cadena-Reeves Justice Center 300 Dolorosa in San Antonio and can be reached at 210-335-2573.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.