CHARDON, Ohio — Geauga County Juvenile and Probate Judge Timothy Grendell filed a motion requesting the Ohio Supreme Court to reconsider his suspension on Monday.
The state's highest court suspended Grendell for at least six months on November 21.
The court's decision came just 10 days after News 5 Investigator Sarah Buduson's report revealed Grendell's case was the oldest judicial professional misconduct case on the court's docket, and five years after her investigative report exposed the judge's misconduct.
Read the original report: Two teen brothers refused to see their dad. An Ohio judge locked them up during a pandemic
The justices found that Grendell violated judicial conduct rules and exhibited a "conscious disregard for the law" when he locked up two teenage brothers in a juvenile detention center over a custody dispute in 2020.
In his motion, Grendell requested the court to reconsider its finding that he violated the state's code of judicial conduct when he sent Conner and Carson Glasier to the Portage-Geauga County Juvenile Detention Center for three nights after they refused to visit their estranged father.
He said precedent in Ohio's Eleventh District Court of Appeals allowed him to detain the brothers.
Grendell also requested the court reconsider its decision to impose an 18-month suspension, with 12 months stayed, in part, because he prevailed on three of the four counts against him.
Along with the findings and suspension, Grendell also asked the court to reconsider its order that he pay 100% of the costs of the Board of Professional Conduct's proceedings, which added up to $23,178.75, because he won three of the four counts against him.
The court dismissed two other charges against Grendell, and another charge was dropped prior to seeking the court's review.
Additionally, Grendell asked the court to vacate or clarify its order to reimburse any amounts awarded to the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection. The fund was established in 1985 to reimburse law clients who have lost money or property as a result of dishonest conduct by their lawyer, according to the Ohio Supreme Court's website. Grendell said the order is "inapplicable" and relates to obligations attorneys notify clients and opposing counsel about their suspension.
Brothers detained over custody dispute
The backbone of the disciplinary case against Grendell was his decision to send the Glasier brothers to solitary confinement during the pandemic.
The judge ordered them to be locked up and charged them as unruly.
The court found the unruly charges were unwarranted and there was no basis to detain them.
The court also found Grendell violated a juvenile court rule when he banned them from calling their mother, Stacy Hartman, while they were in detention.
Hartman said Grendell should have faced harsher punishment. She remains frustrated that the court took over a year to issue its ruling in her case.
She sent News 5 the following statement:
"Today, after almost five years of waiting for justice to be served, the Supreme Court Of Ohio disciplined a rogue judge whose misconduct has permanently damaged numerous families and children. My family in particular has been irreparably impacted by the malfeasant behavior of Timothy J. Grendell. His failure to adhere to the judicial code of conduct he swore to uphold has led us to this point. My family has suffered horribly throughout this process. The Ohio Disciplinary Council has clearly discovered, categorized, outlined, and proved the misconduct and blatant disregard of the law by Judge Grendell in my case. The evidence before the Supreme Court was overwhelming. Despite these findings, this judge has remained defiant, and arrogant. The punishment for this man is not nearly enough in comparison to the damage, pain, and suffering he has caused. The Ohio Supreme Court, an unbiased panel of this man's peers, has spoken. I encourage any and all families whom this judge has unjustly targeted to step forward and now have your voice heard. "
Dismissed counts
Geauga County Auditor Chuck Walder was also disappointed by the court's ruling.
"I had very high hopes for a very different outcome," Walder said.
"I was brought up that judges are held to a higher standard. It appears from the decision that may not be a good rule of thumb," he said.
The court dismissed a charge related to Walder's ongoing dispute with Grendell over billing and oversight, as well as a charge related to Grendell's testimony in support of legislation about COVID-19 statistics, which was sponsored by his wife, former Ohio lawmaker Diane Grendell.
The court concluded that punishing Grendell for his speech at a Geauga County Tea Party meeting and his legislative testimony would violate his First Amendment rights.
However, the court did not endorse legislative testimony by judges and warned them to "tread with caution."
