Jennifer Eggen, a retired Hereford Municipal Court judge in Deaf Smith County, has been publicly reprimanded for berating and demeaning juveniles and their parents in her courtroom.
According to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct (SCJC), which is responsible for investigating such matters, Eggen made multiple comments encouraging jail-cell rape and domestic violence.
SCJC Executive Director Jacqueline R. Habersham told Texas Scorecard that “[c]omplaints were filed by Judge Eggen’s former court clerk and by a confidential source.” The reprimand was issued on October 20.
In May 2021, multiple witnesses claim Judge Eggen told a 15-year-old child, she “hoped that when he got locked up, he would get a big black man as his cell mate that would make him his bitch.” She also reportedly told his parents they “should’ve slapped him” and indicated it was their fault “he was like that.”
In a separate incident, Eggen told a juvenile that he was “nothing but a little bitch,” and that he was “so small in stature that he would be an easy target for the bigger men he would encounter in jail.”
Multiple witnesses claim she told another juvenile she “hoped they put him in jail with a big black man that would make him his sex toy.”
During a training on judicial ethics, Judge Eggen reportedly told her clerk that the complaint process “just gives [citizens] more reason to bitch.”
The commission also accused Eggen of regularly displaying favoritism to prominent community members or personal friends, and discrimination against Hispanics, illegal aliens, and low-income individuals.
In her written response to the commission, Judge Eggen only stated: “I am no longer employed by the City of Hereford Municipal Court having retired after 19 years of service.” She later provided a supplemental response denying any misconduct.
It is unclear how long ago Eggen retired, even to the SCJC.
“Since Judge [Eggen] failed to cooperate with the Commission’s investigation, we were unable to determine the exact date she retired from the bench,” said Habersham.
The commission refused to tell Texas Scorecard whether Judge Eggen’s conduct had ever been called into question before, citing confidentiality.
The public reprimand does not prevent Eggen from un-retiring and becoming a judge again.
According to Habersham, “The Public Reprimand does not disqualify Judge Eggen from serving as a judge in the future, however, this Public Reprimand may serve as a cause for concern for any city municipality [that] seeks to employ her in the future as a municipal court judge, and her conduct, as outlined in the Commission’s findings, has the potential to become an issue that her political opponent could use against her if she decides to run for election.”
Texas Scorecard asked Habersham whether the SCJC had the authority to issue a harsher punishment.
“The Commission could have initiated formal proceedings, which is a removal proceeding against the judge, however, pursuing such an action against a judge who is no longer serving on the bench is not a prudent use of the State’s resources,” said Habersham. “The Public Reprimand, which is the highest disciplinary action the Commission could take, is the sanction the Commission decided to issue to Judge Eggen.”
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