Oregon Supreme Court imposes censure upon Deschutes County judge who intervened in two cases, including homicide

(Update: Supreme Court unanimously imposes censure)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)-- The Oregon Supreme Court has imposed a censure agreed to by Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Bethany Flint, after the Oregon Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability found that she intervened in two local cases involving friends, one a still-unsolved homicide case.

The commission, which reviews allegations of misconduct by Oregon judges, found that Flint broke six judicial codes, including using her position to gain favor for others.

The Supreme Court reviewed a stipulation reached last month by the parties that Flint had violated several rules of Oregon's Code of Judicial Conduct. It unanimously imposed the censure after concluding Flint "at a minimum" violated a rule that "requires a judge to observe high standards of conduct so that the integrity, impartiality and independence of the judiciary and access to justice are preserved, and to act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the judiciary and the judicial system."

Supreme Court Public Information Officer Todd Sprague told NewsChannel 21 on Friday, "Censure is a formal public reprimand from the Supreme Court. The rationale is explained in the censure. The matter is now closed (e.g., there are no further sanctions or actions in this case)."

"If there were any future concerns about possible violations of the Oregon Code of Judicial Conduct, they could be brought to the Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability, as they were in this case," Sprague added.

So beyond the public reprimand, it appears Flint will face no formal punishment. NewsChannel 21 has reached out to Flint several times, but she has not responded.

Here's a Supreme Court media release on the opinion:

Here's the court's decision, issued Thursday.

Flint was appointed to the court by Governor Kate Brown in 2015.

Earlier story:

"It's a way of letting the public know what happened and also helping to, hopefully, have the person correct that behavior in the future," Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler told us last month. She is an attorney who volunteers as the chair of the Oregon Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability, which handles complaints about judges.

Kebler and the commission determined Judge Flint broke six judicial codes, including using her position to gain favor for herself or others.

"When we receive a complaint, we meet and deliberate on it, and decide whether to move forward with querying the judge, dismissing the complaint, investigating and gathering information," Kebler said. "And then, under Oregon law, there is a result of that, that can be censure."

Kebler says this is the first censure case she's been involved with in her six years on the commission.

In 2020, Flint was found to have been helping a friend through the process of obtaining a Family Abuse Prevention Act restraining order. Following the friend complaining to Flint that she was "treated poorly," the judge overseeing the restraining order later asked for advice regarding restraining order petitioners that "lack credibility."

After Flint learned the judge was talking about her friend, she complained about the judge's tone and wrote an opinion letter about their handling of a different restraining order case.

The second case occurred in 2022, when Flint was found to be intervening in a homicide case involving a friend. She “intervened in the conversation with law enforcement more than once,” according to the statement of facts in the report.

She also helped the wife of the victim, Leonard Peverieri, with finding an attorney and advised her and her children not to speak with police without a lawyer present.

The case was reassigned to a Lane County judge and remains unsolved, with no charges filed. Judge Flint did report herself to the commission following the second case.

"We're responsible for upholding the Judicial Code of conduct, so that's what we do," Kebler said.

We reached out to Judge Flint by phone for comment, but did not hear back. She's still on the bench, hearing other cases.