Pike circuit judge agrees to 6-month, unpaid suspension

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) – A Pike County judge has agreed to a six-month, unpaid suspension during a hearing on 13 ethics charges against him.

The charges against 55-year-old Circuit Judge Steven D. Combs were administrative, not criminal. The hearing Monday was being conducted by the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission.

The Lexington Herald-Leader (http://bit.ly/1Ls3NPC ) reports Combs also agreed to an evaluation of whether he has an alcohol problem. His lawyer, Richard A. Getty, says Combs was evaluated earlier and doesn’t have an alcohol abuse problem.

Combs was accused of making inappropriate calls to Pikeville police and with telling a police captain that the next officer to pull him over would get a “bullet in the head.”

Combs said he didn’t recall making some of the derogatory remarks but that the commission had a good-faith basis for the charges.

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Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.