Local judge ordered to pay $30,000 fine, face reprimand after intervening in son's arrests

The Florida Supreme Court has ordered Circuit Judge Barbara Hobbs — who is accused of getting involved after her son’s attempted murder arrest in Tallahassee — to pay a $30,000 fine in addition to an unpaid 60-day suspension and a public reprimand.

The order comes after she conceded to multiple charges last year and a hearing committee recommended that she be publicly reprimanded, suspended from office without pay for 60 days and compelled to attend an employee management program.

During the following months, the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission probed her punishment and charges and concluded that Hobbs should be disciplined even up to removal from her position as a judge, which according to the state Supreme Court is the "most severe form of discipline a judge may face."

While the state Supreme Court agreed that Hobbs' initially recommended punishment was not sufficient, they did not believe her charges warranted removal. So, they added a $30,000 fine.

Previous coverage:

• Tallahassee Judge Barbara Hobbs urges state Supreme Court to stick with 60-day suspension

• Tallahassee-area circuit judge says she will accept suspension

• Judicial ethics panel recommends 60-day unpaid suspension for Tallahassee judge

• Circuit Judge Hobbs denies allegations of impropriety by Judicial Qualifying Commission

• Circuit Judge Barbara Hobbs charged by state panel, accused of intervening in son's arrest

"Although we are not unsympathetic to Judge Hobbs’s family situation, her violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct demonstrate a failure of judgment and a lack of appropriate boundaries between her judicial office and her personal life that cannot be tolerated in members of our judiciary," read court records.

Hobbs was first elected in 2012 to the 2nd Circuit bench, which covers Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties.

In 2018, Judge Hobbs’ son was charged with misdemeanor DUI in Leon County.

Soon after "Hobbs assumed another judge’s docket" that included two cases in which "her son’s attorney was the attorney of record," read a Supreme Court summary of events. Hobbs did not recuse herself nor did she disclose her connection with the attorney.

The following year, Hobbs’ son was arrested after he allegedly "shot a female acquaintance through a closed door," the Supreme Court narrative read.

Hobbs went to the headquarters of the Tallahassee Police Department and, after she was told that only his attorney could see him, she told officers that she was representing her son as his attorney, according to findings by the Supreme Court.

"You were also able to be present with your son during his formal interview with investigators," read Supreme Court records regarding Hobbs' actions at the police station. "During the interview, you participated by asking clarifying questions, and eventually telling your son to stop speaking."

Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: State Supreme Court ups Judge Hobbs' punishment, adds $30,000 fine