Town judge resigns amid misconduct investigation

An upstate New York judge resigned while under investigation for trying to use his position on the bench to get out of traffic tickets, the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct said Monday.

On two occasions in June, when police stopped then-Judge Ian E. Penders of Clarkson Town Court in Monroe County — charging him with a misdemeanor and an unlicensed driving violation — Penders invoked his judicial office to avoid being written a ticket, according to a complaint that spurred the commission’s investigation.

Penders, who represented himself in state judicial conduct commission proceedings, resigned in an Oct. 22 letter to Clarkson’s town supervisor. He vowed to leave office by Oct. 30.

“It has been a privilege to serve as town justice. Thank you for the opportunity to serve my community,” the former judge wrote.

To resolve the charges stemming from his summer stops, Penders pleaded guilty to unlicensed driving on Aug. 15. He paid a $100 fine.

The judicial conduct commission’s administrator, Robert H. Tembeckjian, called Penders’ resignation an “appropriate resolution.”

“Judges are obliged to respect and comply with the laws they are responsible for upholding. They must also refrain from invoking the prestige of judicial office to evade the consequences of an arrest,” Tembeckjian said in a statement.

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, created in 1978, includes 11 members. Three are appointed by the governor; three by the Court of Appeals’ chief judge; and one each is appointed by the New York Senate and Assembly majority and minority leaders.

Penders, a Republican, joined the Clarkson Town Court bench in 2017. His term was set to expire at the end of the year. He was running unopposed in this year’s general election, but agreed not to seek or accept judicial office in the future as part of a stipulation.