A Cochise County justice of the peace has been publicly reprimanded by the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct in a decision which resolves several complaints made by former employees.
Justice of the Peace Bruce Staggs holds the bench of the Benson Justice Court and serves as magistrate for the City of Benson. He confirmed to Arizona Daily Independent that he has accepted the disciplinary action for a handful of rules violations from 2015 to 2017.
Staggs first took office in January 2015 and was reelected in 2018. The reprimand was issued during the Commission’s meeting last month and has been reported to Judge James Conlogue, Cochise County’s presiding judge.
According to the Nov. 17 Disposition Order signed by Commission Chair Louis Frank Dominguez, two “inter-related complaints” alleged Staggs engaged in multiple acts of misconduct, including improper demeanor, improper political activity, hostile work environment, prejudgment of cases, and ex parte communication. An investigation into the complaints and others started in early 2018.
Dominguez’s Order notes the Commission “did not find clear and convincing evidence” for many of the allegations, but found Staggs violated some rules within the Judicial Code of Conduct, including improper comments to staff, improper religious comments in a criminal case, improper political activity, and improper independent investigation.
Staggs was also found to have violated the Code when he ordered a Benson police officer to arrest a defendant who failed to appear at trial and then bring the man to the courthouse.
“You bring him back here sergeant when you pick him up and we’ll keep him in custody until it’s time for the new trial,” a courtroom recording revealed, even though Staggs had no information as to why the defendant failed to appear.
“Accordingly, Judge Bruce E. Staggs of the Benson Justice Court is hereby publicly reprimanded for his conduct as described above and pursuant to Commission Rule 17(a),” according to Dominguez’s order. At the same time, a separate complaint filed by another of Staggs’ former court managers was dismissed with no action.
Prior to the Judicial Commission’s recent public reprimand, Staggs was issued a non-public advisory letter in January 2018 to resolve a 2017 complaint which alleged he had made inappropriate statements and “inaccurate assumptions” about a victim of domestic abuse.
The Commission dismissed the complaint upon finding no evidence of ethical misconduct nor violation of the Code but reminded Staggs “to avoid making statements that give the impression he has prejudged a witness’s credibility,” according to an order signed by Dominguez.
In addition, Staggs self-reported an ethical conduct violation in February 2018 for using his office computer for personal use in connection to his reelection campaign. It is against the Judicial Code of Conduct to use “court staff, facilities, or other court resources” in a campaign for judicial office.
“I have gone online and looked up the definition of resource and each of the dictionaries has ‘money’ in the definition,” Staggs noted in his self-report. “Notwithstanding any of the above I now fully recognize that I interpreted ‘resources’ incorrectly and thus violated the Judicial Code of Conduct.”
A Commission investigation into the campaign violation also revealed Staggs “improperly” sought the endorsement of a law enforcement association. A March 2018 non-public advisory letter was issued to Staggs, who was ordered to remove the law enforcement endorsement from his campaign materials.
If a complaint is dismissed without a public discipline, then the initiating complaint and the Disposition Order are posted to the Commission’s website after redaction of any information which identifies the parties or the court. This usually makes it impossible to connect an order to a specific judicial officer, but Staggs has been open with Arizona Daily Independent about the complaints filed against him.
Staggs’ current justice of the peace term expires at the end of 2022. It remains unclear whether the City of Benson was informed of the reprimand.