Georgia’s judicial watchdog has filed misconduct charges against DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Yolanda Parker-Smith, saying she illegally jailed a lawyer, improperly threatened to jail District Attorney Sherry Boston and two other county prosecutors and refused to return indictments in open court.
The charges, filed Monday in the Georgia Supreme Court, allege Parker-Smith, in her sixth year on the bench, violated the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct by failing to follow state law and act professionally. The charges come after the state’s investigation into three complaints against Parker-Smith, who could face possible removal from office.
Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission Director Courtney Veal asked the agency’s hearing panel to determine if and how Parker-Smith should be punished. Ultimately, that will be a decision for the state Supreme Court, based on the hearing panel’s recommendation.
“Judge Parker-Smith failed to respect and comply with Georgia law,” Veal said in the court filing. “Judge Parker-Smith failed to perform her judicial duties competently and without bias or prejudice.”
Credit: DeKalb County Superior Court
Credit: DeKalb County Superior Court
Parker-Smith’s lawyer in the case, Gabe Banks, said in a statement Tuesday that she is aware of the charges and is working with him “to respond fully and fairly.”
“Judge Parker-Smith does her best to approach every case and every matter before her with good intentions and a sincere commitment to the fair administration of justice,” Banks said. “She remains dedicated to carrying out her judicial responsibilities fairly, impartially, and in service to the citizens of DeKalb County.”
Parker-Smith, a former public defender admitted to practice law in Georgia in 2004, won election to the bench in 2020, beating four other candidates vying for the nonpartisan seat vacated by the retirement of Clarence Seeliger. She took office at the start of 2021 and was reelected unopposed in 2024 to another four-year term.
The JQC alleged Parker-Smith improperly threatened to jail the DeKalb district attorney and two assistant district attorneys for being in contempt of court in May 2023 because the prosecutors’ dismissal of a criminal case was filed the morning after the judge’s deadline. The maximum sentence for contempt is 20 days in jail.
The JQC said Parker-Smith issued an order on May 22, 2023, instructing the district attorney and assistant prosecutors to appear before her in court at the end of the month “to show cause why they should not be held in contempt for lying to this court and failing to submit the (case dismissal) as stated.”
The JQC said one of the assistant district attorneys, referred to in the charges by their initials, had told the judge several days earlier they would try to meet her same-day deadline for dismissing the case while the other assistant district attorney was out of the country on leave. Parker-Smith had at that time denied a request for an extension and threatened the prosecutors with jail, according to the misconduct charges.
On May 25, 2023, the district attorney and assistant prosecutors sought Parker-Smith’s recusal from the contempt hearing and to reschedule it, but the request was denied on May 31, 2023, by DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams, the JQC said.
Credit: (Ben Gray for the AJC)
Credit: (Ben Gray for the AJC)
It said Parker-Smith issued an order on June 6, 2023, rescinding her previous order and canceling the hearing.
A spokesperson for the district attorney declined to comment as the JQC case is pending.
The JQC said Parker-Smith’s separate “illegal jailing” of an attorney, referred to in the charges by their initials, happened in August 2024 because the attorney was late to a court hearing. It said Parker-Smith failed to follow Georgia law by detaining the attorney without giving him the opportunity to speak.
According to the JQC charges, the attorney’s assistant emailed Parker-Smith’s staff on Aug. 14, 2024, requesting that the attorney’s scheduled appearance in court at 9 a.m. the following day be pushed back because the attorney had to be in court in Henry County for a separate matter at 8:30 a.m.
When the attorney arrived in Parker-Smith’s courtroom around 10:48 a.m. on Aug. 15, 2024, he was immediately arrested by a sheriff’s deputy under the judge’s order and locked in a holding cell in the courthouse basement, the JQC alleged.
The agency said Parker-Smith did not address or interact with the attorney before he was taken into custody and stripped of his electronic devices. It said the judge allowed the attorney to be released from the holding cell and return to her courtroom around noon.
Parker-Smith did not address the attorney’s jailing in open court and instead lectured him in her chambers about punctuality and hearing conflicts, the JQC said. It said the judge appeared confused when told of the email the attorney’s assistant had sent the day prior.
The judge did not respond when the attorney asked why he was jailed and took no further action in the matter, the JQC said.
Parker-Smith is also accused of violating the judicial conduct code by refusing in February to take the bench so that criminal indictments could be returned in open court, as required by Georgia law. The JQC said Parker-Smith was presiding over grand jury proceedings when she summoned a DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office captain to her chambers on Feb. 3 to discuss the fact that she did not want an assigned corporal in her courtroom during the return of indictments.
“Judge Parker-Smith then refused to enter her courtroom to return the indictments,” the JQC alleged. “Instead, the grand jury team had to find another judge to complete the duty.”
Veal said the judge’s misconduct was willful and “brings the judicial office into disrepute,” warranting discipline.
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