Bremerton Municipal Court Judge Tracy Flood was suspended from the bench effective immediately after the Washington State Commission on Judicial Conduct rendered a decision Friday night, which also recommended the Washington State Supreme Court remove her as the city judge altogether.
At the end of the proceedings in a disciplinary case centered on Flood’s treatment of court staff, among other issues, which formally began in 2023, the commission ruled that Flood violated four codes of judicial conduct. Flood and her attorney both declined to comment when offered the opportunity by the commission following the announcement of its decision.
The CJC, a commission tasked to investigate complaints of judicial misconduct in courts statewide, was not convinced that Flood “truly understands the magnitude and impact of her misconduct, or even that she believes she has engaged in misconduct at all,” they wrote in the 33-page decision. “The possibility of returning a judge to the bench who will likely continue in conduct that harms court staff, the operation of the court, attorneys, the city, and the public, is not an acceptable outcome…”
The commission departed from a stipulation that preceded the fact-finding hearing in Flood’s case, which played out over a week in October. Disciplinary counsel at that time recommended Flood be suspended for at least six to nine months, but not removed.
Flood, the first Black woman elected judge in Kitsap County in 2021, has been the subject of the disciplinary case since July 2023, after court staff members, some of whom had already left the court, filed numerous complaints alleging that she treated them in a disrespectful, demeaning and condescending manner. Allegations of such behavioral misconduct partially motivated a wave of public defenders to quit practicing in the city and contributed to a complete turnover of the municipal court staff from the previous administration, which included the resignations of at least three court administrators.
Tracy Flood
The disciplinary case stemmed from multiple internal staff issues that originated during Flood’s first year after winning election and continued even after new staff members were hired. One former court administrator, Jennefer Johnson, and former legal technician, Serena Daigle, filed separate lawsuits alleging that Flood created a hostile work environment and discriminated against them based on their disabilities. Former therapeutic coordinator Steven Desrosier accused Flood of retaliation on the eve of the fact-finding hearing, in which he was set to testify, after she filed for a protection order against him for allegedly threatening her upon a visit to the courthouse. A Kitsap Superior Court Judge later denied the petition.
The court determined that Flood’s administration of her court staff resulted in “failures” of the court’s responsibility that were “significant and injurious to the competent operation of the court, which is a judge’s fundamental responsibility,” the decision read.
The panel went on to detail examples of the court’s operational failures under Flood that included the mismanagement of court funds, the weeks-long delays of docket entries, the fact that law enforcement wasn’t timely or accurately informed of court actions, and the stripping of duties from longtime personnel without alternate arrangements.
Competency orders were not timely fulfilled, which left one man languishing in custody for almost a month with no action and bench warrants were not processed and sent to police, which resulted in the wrongful arrest of a man whose warrant had been quashed, the panel reported in the decision. Another man was released from custody after his warrant was not processed into the system, and he died within days of release.
Flood’s documented mistreatment of staff
A vision of the possible outcome in Flood’s disciplinary case was laid out in the stipulation at the top of the fact-finding hearing. In the court document crafted by both Flood’s defense attorneys and the disciplinary counsel, Flood admitted to violating three codes of judicial conduct and affirmed certain instances when she mistreated her staff. Disciplinary counsel agreed not to recommend Flood’s removal from the bench, opting instead for sanctions that would include her submission to training, coaching and mentoring.
The three rules Flood admitted to violating state that a judge shall comply with the law and the code of conduct and a judge shall “act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.” The third rule holds that “a judge shall be patient, dignified, and courteous” and require similar conduct in return.
In the stipulation, Flood signed her agreement that she shouted at an employee, spoke condescendingly to and grew impatient with Daigle, admonished another legal technician and treated attorneys with discourtesy and impatience. She also agreed that she had constantly criticized a court administrator, belittled a probation officer for mistakes he made due to his dyslexia, and that her manner of communication and the changes she made in court led multiple members of her staff to leave her administration.
The commission fortified the testimonials of mistreatment issued by Flood’s court staff during October’s fact-finding hearing, recording that Flood “would overtalk anyone else present in a meeting, refuse to listen to input, decline to give written instructions, and thereafter deny the oral instructions she has given, and when she cut off other speakers, would often do so with a dismissive hand gesture and or vocalization.”
The commission went on to recognize the unique character of Flood’s disciplinary case. In 2024, the commission recommended the removal of a Judge who engaged in “physically violent and emotionally abusive behavior, the censure of a Judge for making racial comments, and the admonishment of another Judge for using profane language.
In Flood’s case, the panel wrote that the “violations were less overt in that she did not use foul language, usually did not raise her voice, and did not specifically call people names. Rather, she consistently condescended to, undermined, and confused both staff and attorneys.”
Commission decided Flood’s case is not an issue of race
Flood’s testimony clashed with those agreements during the October hearing, when she maintained that she did not believe she ever treated anyone with discourtesy, similar to a denial of misconduct she made to the Kitsap Sun in August when she said that she “never, even remotely, said anything improper to anyone.” At the hearing, Flood only agreed that staff “felt” she had been impatient and discourteous with them.
Elected to succeed previous Bremerton Municipal Court Judge James Docter, Flood entered the courthouse determined to make changes, acknowledging structural inequities in the nation’s judicial system broadly. She testified during her fact-finding hearing that her staff’s objections to her conduct were personal because “they do not like me” and that they were working to undermine her.
Flood and her attorneys argued that the pushback from her court staff was substantially motivated by racial bias and that Flood was being “tone-policed.” Black women who are frequently told to remove emotion from their voice when they speak and tailor their messages so people will take them seriously. Flood’s attorneys also pointed to the racist stereotype of the “angry Black woman” and Flood said her staff did not like being told what to do by a Black woman.
Flood’s attorneys called current and former court employees to the stand who testified that they had never seen Flood act discourteously. Faymous Tyra Jr., current therapeutic court coordinator, told the CJC panel that the courthouse had succumbed to an “anti-Flood” and “anti-minority” mindset.
However, the commission decision on Friday found that there is “not sufficient evidence in this case to substantiate (Flood’s) defense that her conduct and the accusations against her were a product of racism.”
The commission, which noted that several of its members were Black, Native American and biracial peoples, acknowledged the likely role of racism in Flood’s pioneering experience as a Black judge in Bremerton. “There is no rational basis to deny the toxic and pervasive role that racism has historically played and continues to play in the American justice system,” they wrote, before continuing on.
“It is also true that (Flood) bears the responsibility as part of the great power that she holds as a judge of conducting herself in a fashion that ensures the greatest possible public confidence in her independence, impartiality, integrity, and competence,” the panel wrote. “And in these regards, she has failed. The reality of racism neither explains nor excuses the failings found here.”
While Flood will be immediately suspended with pay, Bremerton is left without a municipal court judge, Mayor Greg Wheeler said Friday night. Wheeler will attend a meeting Saturday morning to determine the next steps forward, but could not speculate what the City’s solution would be to install an authority to oversee the court.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Judge Tracy Flood suspended immediately, Bremerton left without judge