It's been more than a year since the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct recommended that Geauga County Judge Timothy Grendell be suspended. Today, the Ohio Supreme Court took action, suspending Grendell for 18 months, with 12 months stayed.
The suspension comes just 10 days after News 5 Investigator Sarah Buduson's report aired, questioning why Grendell was still on the bench — his case was the oldest judicial professional misconduct case on the docket.
Watch that report:
Grendell is suspended without pay for six months, but if he fails to abide by the suspension and commits further misconduct, he will have to serve the whole 18-month suspension term.
The suspension stems from a case he presided over in 2020 during the pandemic involving two brothers who refused to see their estranged father.
Grendell ordered the brothers, then 13 and 15, to be placed in solitary confinement for three nights at the Portage-Geauga County Juvenile Detention Center.
Watch more about the case:
RELATED: Two teen brothers refused to see their dad. An Ohio judge locked them up during a pandemic
The Ohio Supreme Court determined that Grendell violated judicial conduct rules in the case involving the teen boys when he remanded them to the detention center and then prevented them from contacting their mother.
Grendell's current term expires Feb. 9, 2027. At 72, he cannot run for reelection due to age restrictions.
