Probate judge Christina Peterson is charged with violating protocol for letting civilians in the courthouse without security screening.
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| First-term probate judge Christina Peterson was also previously in trouble for social-media posts she made in 2020, one of which solicited birthday gifts of money. (Shutterstock) |
DOUGLAS COUNTY, GA — A Douglas County probate judge is facing her second state complaint within her first year of office after state officials said she violated courthouse protocol earlier this year and put public safety at risk.
Judge Christina Peterson, who was previously charged with violating Georgia's judicial code of conduct for her 2020 social-media posts, is in hot water again for allowing seven members of the public to enter the courthouse for a wedding without security screenings after Capt. Trent Wilson, supervisor of courthouse security, told her not to do so, Fox 5 Atlanta first reported.
According to the complaint filed by the Judicial Qualifications Commission, Peterson scheduled a morning wedding on Saturday, April 17. Douglas County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived that morning, opened the courthouse and stood by the security checkpoint to ensure anyone that entered the building was screened properly — as they do every weekday morning.
But when no one showed up for the scheduled wedding, deputies locked up the courthouse and went home. It's policy in the sheriff's office to schedule and pay deputies to be present during after-hours or weekend events at the courthouse so they can screen civilians accordingly.
Peterson showed up in the afternoon with the wedding party, called the sheriff's office and said there was a scheduling mistake. Wilson told Fox 5 Atlanta that he made it clear no deputies would be coming back, and she'd have to hold the wedding outside, but she chose not to do so.
Security video obtained by Fox 5 Atlanta showed the wedding party walking into the second floor entrance to the courthouse without being screened to attend the wedding.
"If you don't go through the screening station, and you're a citizen you can drop off a gun, put it in the trash can, in the bathroom," Wilson told Fox 5's Randy Travis. "There's places in there you can hide things that can hurt people."
Chief Superior Court Judge David Emerson temporarily suspended Peterson's after-hours access to the courthouse after he heard about the wedding incident, the complaint said. Once she realized her after-hours access was suspended, she sent emails to Emerson and the sheriff to get her access restored, "never once acknowledging her violation of the courthouse security protocol," according to the complaint.
Peterson then responded to Emerson's question asking "How are you even a Judge?" and copied other court and governmental officials in the email.
"This is definitely not becoming of the judiciary and you should be ashamed of yourself. This is harassment, prejudicial, and borderline racist. I pray that your soul is saved and I also pray that the Sheriff will know his authority and use it for good," Peterson said in the email, according to the JQC complaint. "Denying access to MY office in the courthouse is denying me access to perform my constitutional duties. You have no authority to make the decisions in which you attempt to make. Please retire as this county has outgrown your spirit."
Her after-hours access was restored April 22 after "appropriate steps were taken by the sheriff and Judge Emerson to address Judge Peterson's violation of the courthouse's security protocol."
Emerson, Peterson and Peterson's attorney declined to comment to Fox 5 Atlanta.
The JQC complaint also includes allegations that Peterson took advantage of her neighbors in a lawsuit before she became probate judge, and settled it for $70,000 without telling her clients and keeping the money for herself.
The Georgia Supreme Court declined to suspend Peterson until a hearing next year, but said they are concerned about the amount and seriousness of complaints against the judge. She has until the end of October to answer the charges.
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