FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission has publicly reprimanded one of Pike County’s circuit judges.

The commission issued a formal reprimand of Circuit Judge Howard Keith Hall Friday evening, saying Hall repeatedly violated the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Specifically, the commission found Hall repeatedly communicated with defendants outside the presence of prosecutors, had inappropriate discussions of confidential matters, threatened a prosecutor, and conducted independent investigations outside of his judicial role.

The commission found that on Jan. 31, 2024, Hall met privately with a defendant outside the presence of the prosecutor, signing an affidavit of indigence and appointing a public defender for the defendant. A week later, when the prosecutor filed a motion asking Hall to recuse himself from that same case, Hall accused the prosecutor of “attempting to destroy him,” invited the attorney to meet with him privately, and threatened to “make life difficult for them,” the reprimand says. 

The next day, during an arraignment, the Commission said Hall made inappropriate comments from the bench about the prosecutor’s questioning of a defendant’s indigence, saying, “Wow … Merry Christmas!” and accusing others of being “out to get him” in reference to a recusal motion. He also asked the prosecutor if he intended to withdraw a motion to recuse, then overruled them when they refused to withdraw. However, he eventually transferred the case to Circuit Judge Eddy Coleman, saying, “Coleman needs more cases.”

Hall also made comments from the bench about the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office filing ethics complaints against him and complaining about the investigation against him.

“All of these actions demonstrate bias, a lack of judicial decorum, and an abuse of judicial authority, undermining public confidence in the integrity, impartiality and independence of the judiciary,” the reprimand says.

Other actions cited by the commission include:

• Having inappropriate communications with defendants, such as calling one to tell him to come to court the next day, talking on the phone with a defendant’s family about bond issues, and even performing a wedding for a defendant when the defendant had a pending motion to amend judgment before the court.
• Entered a notice of expungement without a hearing and without notifying the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
• Referring to Drug Court as a “cartel” and a “star chamber” during court and complaining that he couldn’t praise defendants the way Drug Court could.
• Made inappropriate comments about Judge Coleman by saying Coleman’s courtroom was “worse than jail.”
• Made inappropriate comments about a defendant, saying he just wanted to “dope ‘till he dies.”

The reprimand was issued by the commission on Wednesday and signed by Judge Hall the same day. The commission did not take any additional disciplinary actions against the judge.

A full copy of the reprimand is reprinted below: