Former judge admonished for $1,000 loan to defendant behind on payments
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Indiana’s Commission on Judicial Qualifications on Friday admonished a former judge for making a loan to a defendant behind on a money judgment.
The commission found that former Benton County Circuit Court Judge Rex Kepner’s actions four years ago “went beyond a judge’s ethical authority to encourage a settlement and tarnished the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary.”
The entity, created in 1970, investigates complaints about judges and enforces judicial conduct standards.
‘Hard times’
Kepner, a Republican, made the loan in a small claims case.
Gick Rentals sued Clark Coltin — later released from the case — and Mckenzie Griffith in October 2019. Steve Gick initially wanted $4,000 from the defendants for unspecified rental damage, but upped the amount to $8,260 to cover damage and repair, according to a November 2019 order from Kepner.
The then-judge ordered Griffith to pay $2,535. It would’ve taken her more than two years to pay off at the court-ordered rate of $100 per month plus 8% interest.
But she fell behind.
A year later, Kepner presided over a hearing about a default judgment entered in Gick’s favor. According to the admonition, he asked how much money Griffith had already paid, how much was unpaid, and how much Gick would accept that day to resolve the matter.
After Gick named an amount, the admonition says Kepner stepped off the bench and entered his chambers. Through his court reporter, Kepner gave the defendant the money.
The court reporter told the defendant that the money was a loan from the judge that would need to be repaid. The plaintiff, however, wasn’t told Kepner was the source of the money.
Griffith, who’d appeared without a lawyer, paid Gick $1,000 in cash that day, according to the Oct. 6, 2020 order.
“The case is now concluded in its entirety and the case is now dismissed with prejudice,” the order reads.
Kepner, according to the admonition, had wanted “to help a member of his community who had fallen upon hard times.”
“Although the Commission appreciates that Rex Kepner did not have an improper motive for the loan and merely sought to assist a struggling community member, he acted outside of his role as a neutral arbiter of the dispute by making the loan,” the commission wrote.
The body cautioned judges that, while they can “feel sympathy towards a litigant, judges must be mindful of the duty to remain impartial and to not allow such compassion to cause them to take actions … which cause the public to question their impartiality.”
Kepner acknowledged violating Rule 1.2 of Indiana’s Code of Judicial Conduct. It requires judges to “act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary” and to avoid even “the appearance of impropriety.”
Four years later
Kepner no longer serves as judge.
He was first elected to the court in 1996, his LinkedIn signals, and earned reelection three times, state candidate lists indicate. He ran unopposed in the general elections for 2002 and 2014, according to the lists, but there’s no data for 2008.
Kepner retired in 2020 — the year of the loan — according to legal research platform Trellis. Republican John Wright, formerly Benton County’s chief deputy prosecuting attorney, was elected to fill the vacancy.
Kepner pivoted in 2022, when he won election as Benton County’s prosecutor.
The admonition comes two years into his new gig.
The commission found that formal disciplinary charges were “warranted” but instead admonished Kepner because he cooperated with the investigation, acknowledged his violation and apologized for his actions.
The commission is composed of the Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice — currently Loretta Rush — along with three lawyer-elected attorneys and three governor-appointed laypeople.
The commission can’t remove, suspend, or formally discipline judges, per its website. Instead, it investigates complaints.
In serious cases, it can files charges of misconduct with the Indiana Supreme Court, which holds the formal disciplinary powers. Less serious cases can result in confidential warnings.
Public admonitions appear to fall in between, according to the commission’s examples of dispositions. The body has issued just 30 public admonitions since 1992, according to a list on its website.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.