LAPEER (AP) — A watchdog agency is recommending the removal of a Lapeer County judge who deposited money from bad check cases in his personal bank account when he was prosecutor.
Judge Byron Konschuh also made false statements and failed to disqualify himself from more than 100 cases despite a conflict of interest with attorneys in those cases, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission said Wednesday.
The commission recommended that the Michigan Supreme Court remove Konschuh from office.
The report came a day after Konschuh, seeking re-election, finished second in a three-way race and advanced to the fall election. An email seeking comment was sent to his attorney.
Konschuh was the Lapeer County prosecutor in 2013 when Gov. Rick Snyder appointed him to the circuit court.
There is no dispute that he deposited 42 checks totaling $1,022 into personal bank accounts when he was prosecutor. The checks were fees owed to the prosecutor's office by a collections company hired in bad check cases.
Konschuh pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor in 2016, though the case was ultimately dismissed under the plea agreement.
He told the commission that the money should be set off by personal cash spent on office expenses over the years.
“There simply is no legal authority” for that position, said the commission, which also found other incidents of embezzlement.
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