ALBANY - The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has completed formal proceedings against June Chapman, a justice of the Ellicottville Town Court, Cattaraugus County, who left office on April 28, 2008, while disciplinary proceedings were pending against her. 

Pursuant to a stipulation dated May 20, 2008, Judge Chapman agreed never to seek or accept judicial office in the future. On that basis, the proceedings were discontinued and the case was closed.

Under the terms of the stipulation, Judge Chapman waived the statutory provision of confidentiality applicable to Commission proceedings, to the limited extent that the stipulation would be made public. The stipulation indicates the following:

• The Commission served a Formal Written Complaint on Judge Chapman on March 5, 2008. The Complaint contained four charges alleging inter alia that the judge: failed to ensure that defendants in three cases had access to counsel in a timely manner or altogether; failed to deposit bail monies in a timely manner in six cases despite the Commission’s prior censure for such conduct; failed to remit fine receipts in 22 cases to the State Comptroller; and failed to order pre-sentence investigation reports from the Probation Department so that defendants in three cases could be sentenced without delay.
• The Complaint alleged that as a result of Judge Chapman’s conduct, three defendants were forced to spend a week in jail because they were denied access to counsel at all or in a timely manner.  A criminal case was also dismissed because the judge failed to take action, and sentencing dates in three cases were delayed for months.
• Judge Chapman answered the Formal Written Complaint on March 27, 2008, admitting some of the allegations and denying others. She tendered her resignation from judicial office on April 24, 2008, and submitted copies of the resignation to the Ellicottville Town