A state board that oversees the conduct of judges has dismissed a complaint against Nashville Judge Rachel Bell.
Tommy Craig, of White Bluff, filed the complaint in June, listing among his concerns that Bell started court late and took long breaks to take pictures with students.
According to The Tennessean, earlier this month the Board of Judicial Conduct sent a letter to Mr. Craig dismissing the complaint.
The board believed he was angry about the outcome of his own case, Craig said.
Bell on Monday provided a copy of a letter she received from the board, which says the panel dismissed the complaint and closed the judicial conduct investigation.
The letter also indicates the board’s investigator had filed a separate complaint against the judge, which was also dismissed.
Bell has been a judge since 2012 and was re-elected to an eight-year term in 2014.
As one of the city’s 11 General Sessions judges, she earns $170,000 a year and hears a mix of misdemeanor criminal and minor civil cases.
Craig filed his complaint one month after a public defender and another judge raised concern about Bell’s schedule.
Bell has said she does not start court until 10:30 am, though most other judges begin at 9 am, in part because of Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations for Type I diabetes. She also says some cases are able to be resolved in that time.
