KS: Panel Recommends Public Censure of Judge Timothy Henderson

A state panel has recommended to the Kansas Supreme Court that Sedgwick County Judge Timothy Henderson be disciplined by public censure for violating rules of judicial conduct.

The findings, filed Tuesday, say among other things that Henderson “engaged in harassment as well as gender bias by making repeated inappropriate and offensive comments in the presence of female attorneys employed by the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.”

The panel of judges and lawyers, which in May heard testimony from Henderson and the witnesses against him, concluded that many of his “explanations, or denials, of the allegations are not credible.” The panel determined that the evidence substantiated each of the three counts against him.

The panel concluded that Henderson violated judicial rules including that a judge “shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary.”

The panel’s recommended discipline – public censure – is a published reprimand by the court and, while serious, is the least severe sanction the Supreme Court can impose on judges.

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Panel Recommends Public Censure of Judge Timothy Henderson