Suspended judge fined for fixing own tickets
Notice: Undefined variable: article_ad_placement3 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/single.php on line 128
LANCASTER (AP) — A suspended magisterial district judge in Lancaster has been fined $1,500 for fixing her own parking tickets.
The Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era reports a judge Monday ordered Kelly Ballentine to pay the fine for dismissing the tickets in December 2010 and January 2011. The parking fines totaled $269.59.
Chester County Judge Charles B. Smith rejected both jail and probation, saying Ballentine has an “otherwise reputable background.”
Ballentine asked for forgiveness from her friends, family and judicial system peers. Last month, she pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of tampering with public records.
Her attorney, Royce Morris, says she exercised a “major lapse in judgment” when she dismissed the three tickets given to her by city police.
The state Judicial Conduct Board is weighing Ballentine’s status as a judge.