A prominent Texas judge who’s been stripped of all of her cases has been accused of inappropriate behavior by a longtime staffer.
Harris County District court reporter Gail A. Rolen made the claims in a judicial complaint against Judge Kelli Johnson – weeks after Johnson was charged with driving while intoxicated in June.
Almost simultaneously, top judicial leadership in Houston removed hundreds of pending cases that the state district judge had been presiding over – reassigning them to other jurists.
This comes in the wake of not one, but two DWI stops- one on June 25 that led to her arrest, and one back in April. In May, the judge went missing from her own courtroom – presiding over some of the state’s biggest trials,.
‘Since January of 2024 there has been a significant decline in Judge Johnson’s behavior both professionally and personally in and out of court,’ Rolen wrote on July 11 as a result.
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Kelli Johnson, prominent Texas judge who’s already been stripped of all of her cases, has been accused of inappropriate behavior by a longtime staffer
Harris County District court reporter Gail A. Rolen (pictured here at left) made the claims in a judicial complaint against the judge,
‘Many professionals have been involved due to the nature of her actions and behavior.
‘However, due to an ethical duty to protect the integrity of the judicial system, attorneys and their clients, as well as the public who elected her, I felt I had no alternative but to file a judicial complaint outlining the specifics.
‘Her troubling behavior is ongoing,’ she continued, ‘which has resulted in me filing FMLA to protect my job, until, or if, action will be taken by the Judicial Commission.’
She said such conduct built up to the April traffic stop and June arrest.
The former was filmed, and saw two careers hang in the balance as a traffic cop and the senior judge dueled it out for 45 minutes on a Houston highway.
‘I could lose my entire career,’ Johnson is heard telling Sgt. Colin McHugh in audio of the encounter, which saw her seemingly fail a few clues, but ultimately drive off with a warning for speeding.
‘And here’s the thing, your honor,’ he replied before cutting her loose. ‘I could lose my entire career if I let you use your position of you being a judge to do this.’
Cops later said footage from both police bodycams at the scene was rendered useless, due to a a mysterious ‘obstruction’ that hindered the Harris County Sheriff’s officers’ views.
It comes weeks after Johnson was charged with driving while intoxicated this past June, after being pulled over for a suspected DWI in April (seen here)
But audio recorded the cop and jurists complete conversation, while dashboard footage provided a decent vantage point.
Telling her she had been speeding, eating and looking at her phone while making unsafe lane changes and that he could smell alcohol, Sgt. McHugh and his partner still sent her on her way.
This was not the case a few weeks later, when Johnson scored very low (4 out of 18) on her second field sobriety test in as many months, court records said.
In a subsequent arrest report, cops wrote how they believed Johnson was under the influence of a controlled substance, not alcohol. Footage of this arrest was not released.
She did, however, consent to a blood draw upon being brought to the Harris County jail.
She was released on bond a few hours later, and afterwards, her lawyers said no alcohol was found in her system.
But records said the arresting officer determined her allegedly to be under the influence of a controlled substance, based on her dilated pupils, slow movements, and emotionless demeanor.
Lawyers for the judge went on to insist the situation was not caused by an alcohol or drug abuse issue, but a brief medical episode being ‘immediately addressed with her doctor.’
‘Since January of 2024 there has been a significant decline in Judge Johnson’s behavior both professionally and personally in and out of court,’ Rolen wrote of her boss on July 11
Johnson is one of Harris County’s longest-serving current judges, having been first elected in 2016 and voted in for a second term in 2020. Her lawyers say she is suffering from a medical issue
She asked for privacy while addressing with the ‘personal health matter,’ in a statement sent by by attorney Christopher L. Tritico.
Meanwhile, Johnson was absent from the 178th District Court for most of May.
When asked about her mysterious absence, a communications director for the Administrative Office of the District Courts at first told ABC13, ‘No comment.’
A little more than a week later, though, she changed up, saying, ‘Judge Johnson is out for personal matters.’
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Johnson herself commented on the judicial complaint filed by her longtime court reporter, the same day the judge’s cases were confirmed to be reassigned.
She told ABC13, ‘I have lots of comments, but I’m not gonna talk to Channel 13.’
The station obtained the dashcam video of the jurist’s now widely seen April stop, while KPRC 2 was first to report about her cases being reassigned.
‘Dockets in the 178th District Court have been reassigned, however, Judge Johnson remains the elected official over that court,’ Amanda Cain, Administrative Office of the District Courts DCA Communications Director, told the station Wednesday.
‘I have no answer at this time as to how long dockets will remain reassigned.’
The traffic stop took place just days before police were called to a ‘crisis intervention’ at the $820,000 home she shares with her family in the north of the city. No further details on that incident were provided.
Johnson has been absent from her place at the 178th District Court since May 1
The official reason for the reassignment remains unknown, as Johnson was hit with a misdemeanor for her DWI.
Johnson served as an Assistant District Attorney for 17 years and got her law degree from South Texas College of Law.
As a judge, she serves as the Administrative Judge over the Criminal Board and is on the State of Texas’ Board of Texas Association of Specialty Courts.
She is also one of Harris County’s longest-serving current judges, having been first elected in 2016 and voted in for a second term in 2020.
Johnson, who was elected to the 178th court in 2016, has presided over some of the region’s biggest cases, regularly making decisions about hundreds of defendants’ futures.
She is also the first openly gay female judge elected in Harris County. She has two sons, a 12-year-old and 10-month-old, with her wife, Hilary Bartlett, according to her biography.
Her last Facebook post on her official account was April 19 inviting constituents to attend a fundraiser for Democratic criminal court judicial candidates – a week after her initial DWI stop.
Then, in May, she was days away from taking a medical leave of absence from the bench as a courthouse employee told local news station KTRK she was exhibiting ‘manic behavior,’ before cops were called to the house she shares with her family on May 4, for a so-called ‘crisis intervention’.
No further details on that incident were provided. She has been absent from the 178th District Court since May 1.
