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A county district judge elected only last year was ordered to pay $3,000 for campaign reporting violations, a fine that is more than any other judicial candidate who ran last year, The Black Chronicle has learned.
In May, the Oklahoma County prosecutor expressed concern about the judge’s ruling favoring a defendant in a manslaughter case.
Oklahoma County District Judge Kendra Coleman was assessed the compliance fees for not disclosing her campaign donors on time.
Her last required report was due more than six months ago at the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.
Judge Colman unseated Judge Michele McElwee, who had been appointed to the post to complete an unexpired term and was seeking election to a full term.
“Having failed to file more than one report timely you are deemed to have intentionally violated the Ethics Rules,” the watchdog agency’s executive director, Ashley Kemp, told the Coleman campaign in February.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” an attorney, Joe White, said in a written statement on the judge’s behalf.
“Judge Coleman had remained in consistent communication with the ethics commission concerning her final campaign finance reports.
“Judge Coleman has been dutifully, in her private time, preparing her final reports.”
Questions about Judge Coleman’s campaign surfaced in May after prosecutors complained she had displayed bias in a manslaughter case in favor of a defendant represented by a key donor.
“My rulings are not for sale,” she said in her response.
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