Indiana judge suspended for barring clerk from courthouse

HARTFORD CITY, Ind. (AP) - A northern Indiana judge has been suspended without pay for six days for barring a county's clerk from entering a courthouse.

The Indiana Supreme Court issued the suspension Wednesday for Blackford Circuit Court Judge Dean Young after a judicial panel recommended the punishment last month.

The Star Press reports the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications had alleged that Young violated the Code of Judicial Conduct when he barred Blackford County's then-clerk, Derinda Shady, from entering the courthouse for six days in August 2015.

Young and the county's other judge had clashed with Shady over her reaction to a plan to eliminate two positions on her staff.

Young's suspension starts Monday. The former state lawmaker is in the final year of his second term on the court.

He isn't seeking re-election.

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Information from: The Star Press, http://www.thestarpress.com