Wanda James cleared of all charges
SUPERIOR – After over a year of investigation by the Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Mineral County Justice of the Peace Wanda James has returned to duty on the bench.
James officially started working again on Friday, March 29. She entered voluntary administrative leave in late July 2013, while the investigation was under way.
According to the press release from DCI, James was under investigation for a connection to the theft of approximately $9,250 in bond money from traffic tickets. This was the first time the amount was specified. Previous updates did not include a specific figure and only said the investigation was about missing court funds.
James felt the people who called for the investigation likely had the best of intentions, but added her own morality would not have let her steal the money. She said she has been a judge for approximately 20 years and would not risk her career for the money.
“I wouldn’t take what doesn’t belong to me,” James said. “I just wouldn’t, I mean, it’s my court. I certainly want to know what happened to it and I’m concerned about it, but I didn’t take it.”
Criminal charges are not being filed and the case has been closed. Brant Light, DOJ prosecution services bureau chief, stated the lack of proper accounting and controls in the justice court made it impossible to get enough evidence to find any responsible parties.
“It is conceivable that more than one person was stealing funds from the court due to the lack of checks and balances in the accounting or management system used by the court,” Light said in the release. “Therefore, there is simply insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a specific individual is responsible for the thefts that occurred.”
Because of the investigation, James will not be running for reelection, ending her 19-year run in the position. At the March 10 filing deadline, there were five candidates for Justice of the Peace.
James said the decision to run for reelection was a something she considered every four years when her term expired. She felt the investigation could have caused too much damage to her reputation for her to be reelected. Even though she was cleared, James felt the damage had been done.
“Many people in this day and age think you’re guilty until proven innocent,” James said.
The investigation was originally estimated to be completed in August or September of 2013. As the agents continued their search, they had to extend the time frame as more interviews were conducted. The investigation was officially declared complete in late February.
For the last eight months, while James was on leave, the duties of the Justice of the Peace were handled by a group of substitute judges. Shortly after James went on leave, the Mineral County Commissioners appointed Kathleen Brown, Douglas Harkin, Sanders County Justice of the Peace Donald Strine and Plains City Judge Joe Eisenbrandt as her substitutes.
Earlier this year, Strine and Eisenbrandt had to step down from the temporary posts to tend to their duties at home. The commissioners appointed Doug Sharkey to fill the hole.
DCI will be working with the Mineral County Attorney’s Office, Treasurer’s Office and State Court Administrators to make changes to improve the justice court’s procedures when dealing with bond money.
Mineral County Attorney Marcia Boris is cleared to pursue any further allegations in the matter at her own discretion.