News Coverage of Ethics Commission Order & Fine

Today's Texas Lawyer reports, "Ethics Commission Levies Record Fine Against Texas Judge," by Mary Alice Robbins.

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller faces a hit to the pocketbook. In an order signed Wednesday, the Texas Ethics Commission levied a $100,000 civil penalty against Keller for multiple omissions on her 2007 and 2008 personal financial statements. Tim Sorrells, TEC's deputy general counsel, says, "It is the largest penalty."

According to the TEC's final order in In the Matter of Sharon Keller, Respondent, posted Friday on the commission's website, Keller failed to disclose an interest in eight properties, valued on appraisal district rolls at more than $2.4 million in 2006 and at almost $2.9 million in 2007.

As noted on the order, on April 28, 2009, after Keller received notice of the complaint filed against her at the TEC, she filed corrected financial statements for 2007 and 2008. Her corrected statements included the following statement: "My father, Jack Keller, over a number of years, has acquired and managed, without input from me, all of these properties."

The TEC's order also notes that, among other things, Keller omitted from the financial statement she filed in 2008 nine sources of income totaling at least $121,500 and failed in the statements she filed in 2007 and 2008 to disclose 100 to 499 shares in a business.

Neither Keller nor her attorney, Austin solo Ed Shack, immediately returned telephone calls seeking comment.

Sorrells says Keller has 30 business days from receipt of the TEC's order to file an appeal in a state district court.

"Sharon Keller plans to appeal $100,000 fine levied by state ethics panel," is the title of Steve McGonigle's report for the Dallas Morning News.  It appeared in the Saturday edition.  McGonigle was among the first journalists to report on Keller's financial disclosure filings.

Sharon Keller, the embattled presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, vowed Friday to appeal what her attorney called an excessive fine for failing to disclose more than $2.8 million in personal holdings.

The Texas Ethics Commission ordered Keller to pay $100,000 after concluding she had repeatedly violated state disclosure law by not listing stock holdings, bank accounts, rental income, real estate and honoraria on personal financial statements.

The fine, which was adopted by the eight-member commission on April 21 but publicly released Friday, is the largest ever levied by the panel, a spokesman said.

Keller, a Republican who is the state's highest criminal court judge, has described the omissions as unintentional and as the product of her elderly father's management of her holdings.

The judge was reported to be out of town Friday and did not return a phone call to her Austin office. Her attorney, Ed Shack, read a short prepared statement.

"Judge Keller is very disappointed at the excessive penalty assessed against her by the Texas Ethics Commission today. She plans to appeal the decision," he said.

And:

The commission's ruling stemmed from a complaint filed in March 2009 by Texans for Public Justice, a liberal watchdog group. The filing followed a story in The Dallas Morning News about Keller's failure to disclose $2.4 million in property.

The News reviewed Keller's real estate holdings after the judge claimed she lacked assets to defend herself against accusations that she improperly closed the court to a last-minute death penalty appeal because it was not filed during regular work hours.

She faces a June 18 hearing before the State Commission on Judicial Conduct on those charges. If it is determined she acted improperly, she could face censure or removal from office.

Chuck Lindell writes, "Judge Keller fined $100,000 for disclosure lapses," for the Saturday Austin American-Statesman.

Imposing its largest-ever civil penalty against a politician, the Texas Ethics Commission levied a $100,000 fine on Sharon Keller, the state's highest criminal judge, for failing to disclose at least $3.8 million in income and property on two annual financial statements.

The decision adds another expensive and potentially drawn-out legal problem for Keller, who will appeal the fine.

She is also fighting unrelated charges that she improperly closed her court to an execution-day appeal in 2007. Those charges could result in her expulsion as presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

According to the ethics commission ruling, Keller failed to list eight Dallas-area properties on financial disclosure statements required of all elected state officials in 2006 and 2007. Appraisal districts valued six of those properties at almost $2.9 million combined in 2007. One property was valued at $750,000 in 2008, and the other property wasn't appraised, the commission said.

Keller's statements also omitted at least $183,000 in outside income, her ownership interest in a Dallas business, 20 certificates of deposit, one money market fund and her participation on five corporate boards and leadership positions, the commission said in an order signed Wednesday but made public Friday.

Keller had revised both reports last year to include the omissions.

And:

Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, hailed the $100,000 fine.

"I think this fine is the ethics commission's way of saying that public servants will be held to the highest standards," he said Friday. "It sends the wrong signal when top state judges don't follow the law."

Previously, the ethics commission's highest fine was levied against Gerald Eversole, a Harris County commissioner who was docked $75,000 last year for converting campaign money to personal use. Eversole also was ordered to repay $41,357 to his campaign fund.

Saturday's Houston Chronicle carried, "Judge Keller vows to appeal record ethics fine," by R.G. Ratcliffe.  This excerpt refers to Chuck McDonald of Texans for Public Justice:

McDonald also had filed a criminal complaint against Keller. Travis County Attorney David Escamilla said he will review the ethics commission finding before deciding whether to take additional action. Escamilla said it is unlikely he will file misdemeanor charges against Keller if her omissions were not intentional.

Seana Willing, executive director of the judicial conduct commission, said it is unlikely her agency will review the ethics commission filing until after appeals are exhausted.

The ethics commission decided on the fine against Keller in a closed session April 21 and made it public Friday. Keller's reports for 2007 covered her financial activities in 2006, and the 2008 report covered her 2007 finances.

The commission said Keller in 2006 failed to report between 100 and 499 shares of stock, $61,500 in income, interests in eight properties valued that year at $2.4 million and two expenses totaling $3,760 that were accepted under the honorarium exception.

The commission said that in 2007 Keller failed to report the stock, nine sources of income totaling $121,500 and two honoraria valued at $6,010. She also failed to report the eight properties again, then valued at $2.8 million.

The $100,000 fine is unusual for a commission often criticized for issuing relatively small fines for campaign and officeholder reporting violations. The commission has given Keller until Aug. 10 to pay the fine.

Keller legally can use campaign funds to pay the fine, but there is no money in her campaign account and she cannot raise additional money until about June 2011 because she is a judge who does not face re-election until 2012. Keller could have her campaign take out a bank loan to pay the fine. Otherwise, she would have to pay the fine out of pocket.

Earlier coverage begins with the preceding post.