New complaint filed against Jefferson Co. judge 3 months after sanction

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - The Judicial Inquiry Commission filed a second complaint against Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tracie Todd in less than a year. This complaint revolves around her alleged behavior after returning to the bench in December 2021.

Todd was suspended from the bench for most of 2021 while the first Judicial Inquiry Commission complaint was pending before the Court of the Judiciary, which hears cases involving judges. On December 3, 2021 the Court ruled Todd violated multiple canons of judicial ethics, “by repeatedly disregarding the laws set forth in decisions of the Alabama appellate courts and by defying and disregarding orders and decisions of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.”

Since Todd had been suspended with pay that year, the Court suspended her for ninety days without pay, reinstating her for service on December 6, 2021.

The new complaint charges Todd with four counts for refusing to follow that December order. Specifically, it alleges she didn’t work as ordered, made misleading or false statements about the work she was reportedly doing and disrespected and refused to cooperate with fellow judges.

The complaint alleges Todd didn’t log into the state’s court system, Alacourt, with her credentials from December 6 to March 10, 2022. In the complaint, the Commission cites emails to other attorneys and judges that give conflicting reasons for Todd’s inability to handle emergency cases and set a docket.

While cases were reassigned to Todd, the Commission says she didn’t set dockets and failed to give a timeline for hearing those cases. The complaint states nearly 100 cases had been set for hearing by a previous judge, which she failed to reset, causing confusion among attorneys who reported to the courthouse for those hearings.

In February, the Commission emailed Todd to report its investigation regarding her failure to return to service. The complaint notes the following business day Todd filed 113 orders for 39 defendants.

“Many of the 113 orders are repetitive or duplicative - i.e., identical orders issued in multiple cases against the same defendant or orders relating back to a previously filed order for the same defendant in the same case,” it stated.

Todd has not responded to the complaint.

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