Judge Caught Driving Drunk Allowed To Drive Home, Avoids DUI Charges

Stopped at a license check last month, a man in a red truck handed over his license and said his name was “Judge Simms.”

After he registered 0.083 in a roadside breath test, Bibb County Judge Howard Simms admitted that he’d had a couple of drinks, but he said he wasn’t impaired. He added “something to the effect of ... I don’t need this,” according to statements of deputies involved in the traffic stop.

Two deputies -- Capt. Alden Washington and Sgt. Bruce Jordan -- face reprimands and unpaid suspensions for their actions at the Sept. 22 checkpoint on Lamar Road, Sheriff Jerry Modena said at a Thursday news conference.

Washington will receive five days of unpaid suspension, serve a 90-day probation and be sent to a 16-hour course on professional ethics training.

Jordan will receive three days of unpaid suspension, serve a 90-day probation and will be reassigned from a specialized sheriff’s office traffic unit to regular patrol operations.

Deputy Robert Scarborough, who was also at the checkpoint, was not involved in the decision to allow Simms to leave, and he was not disciplined, Modena said.

Simms, a Superior Court judge and former district attorney, released a statement Sept. 25 saying he was entering an in-patient alcohol addiction treatment facility. The judge has not been charged with DUI.