State commission drops one charge in investigation of Polk County Judge John Flynn

The Florida Supreme Court has rejected one of two formal charges against Polk County Judge John Flynn, but he still faces the likelihood of a public reprimand and a 25-day suspension without pay.

The Investigative Panel of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission filed its amended findings and a recommendation of discipline on Wednesday, following an investigation over Flynn’s activities in the 2022 election. The inquiry centered on statements Flynn made suggesting a potential bias toward law enforcement.

In the amended recommendation, the panel removed one formal charge against Flynn, in response to a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court. The initial inquiry alleged that Flynn had violated a canon of judicial conduct on political activities. The Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion issued March 21, rejected that stipulation from the panel’s agreement with Flynn.

The court returned the case to the commission for further proceedings. The panel had originally recommended a 30-day suspension for Flynn.

“The nominal reduction in the penalty from 30 days suspension to 25 days suspension reflects the Commission’s determination that the misconduct reflected in Count One is very serious,” read the amended notice of formal charges, signed by Gregory Coleman, chair of the commission.

Flynn, formerly a Bartow lawyer, won a contentious, five-person election for an open seat for Group 8 County Judge in the 10th Judicial Circuit in 2022. He led voting in the initial election and then defeated Ruth Moracen Knight in a runoff.

As The Ledger previously reported, the commission’s investigative panel submitted notice of formal charges against Flynn in October, asserting that he violated five rules of judicial conduct. The commission does not reveal who filed the complaint that led to the investigation.

The notice of charges included copies of campaign material and printouts of statements Flynn made on social media during the 2022 campaign. Flynn emphasized his background as a former assistant state attorney and expressed support for law enforcement, highlighting endorsements from Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and the West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association.

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Flynn’s campaign used the phrase “#supportlawenforcement” on social media, the panel reported. The notice cited such statements from social media as, “If you are a criminal you don’t want me on the bench” and “Criminals won’t be happy to see me on the bench …”

In the amended findings, the commission wrote that such statements conveyed “an inappropriate bias in favor of law enforcement agencies or against people accused of crimes.”

“Judge Flynn’s statements espousing support for law enforcement did not just occur in a vacuum,” the notice read. “His support of and by law enforcement was a theme repeated in his campaign.”

A member of the public questioned Flynn’s potential bias on social media, the notice said. While the commission does not prohibit judicial candidates from using a sheriff’s endorsement in a campaign, “the Commission believes that such questions should have reminded candidate Flynn about his ethical responsibility to avoid suggesting a bias,” the notice said.

As evidence of “damage” caused by the campaign statements, the commission noted that Chief Judge James Yancey had to move Flynn from his original assignment on criminal cases to small claims in response to the investigation, disrupting the normal rotation of assignments “in order to avoid assigning him to a criminal docket.”

Nick Sudzina, court administrator for the 10^th Judicial Circuit, said that Flynn would eventually be assigned to criminal cases after the investigation is resolved.

The Supreme Court rejected the second formal charge, which arose from Flynn’s appearance at a meeting of the Patriot Club of Lakeland, a conservative group, during the 2022 campaign, an event to which his runoff opponent was not invited, and later advertised the club’s endorsement of him.

The JQC’s investigative panel found that those actions violated judicial rules on attending political party functions or promoting party affiliations. In its opinion, though, the Supreme Court wrote that the findings contained no proof that the Patriot Club of Lakeland is a “political party.”

Under the heading “Mitigation,” the commission wrote that Flynn immediately accepted responsibility for his actions, cooperated with the investigative panel and “expressed regret that his actions have tarnished the judiciary and created the appearance of bias.”

Gary White can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: State panel drops one charge in investigation of Polk County judge