Oct 6, 2020 By Mike Jones for The 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Greene County President Judge Farley Toothman, who is being accused of judicial misconduct, has taken a two-week leave of absence, court officials announced Monday.

Court Administrator Sheila Rode said Toothman’s “temporary leave” will continue until Oct. 20, but she did not elaborate on the reason for his absence except to say it was not related to COVID-19.

Greene County Judge Lou Dayich will handle all judicial duties “to maintain continuity of court operations” while Toothman is absent, Rode said in a written statement. All cases currently assigned to Toothman will be continued until after he returns.

The courthouse remained open Monday, and normal court operations appeared to continue as usual with lawyers and their clients walking in and out of the building.

Reached by phone shortly after the announcement was made Monday afternoon, Toothman said he was “not too good,” but declined to comment on why he decided to take a leave of absence.

His leave comes less than seven weeks after the state Court of Judicial Discipline declined to allow him to enter a diversionary program for judicial misconduct.

Toothman, 64, was accused in May of judicial misconduct in the handling of several cases, including one in which he allegedly interfered with a retail theft investigation into his law clerk at a Waynesburg convenience store three years ago.

He also is accused of interfering with a county probation staff meeting to learn who was handling the probation for a woman, who accused his law clerk of shoplifting at that store, involved in an unrelated lower court case. He sentenced the woman, who was performing community service, to a month in jail for unpaid fines.

Other complaints against him include retaliating against a janitorial employee, and improperly handling a case involving the division of marital property and another over a protection from abuse.

Attorneys for the state Judicial Conduct Board, which brought the charges, recommended against the more lenient diversionary program because of the seriousness of the accusations levied against Toothman.

Toothman had until Sept. 19 to file a response with the court’s decision to not allow him to enter the more lenient diversionary program, although it was not known if he had done so. His Pittsburgh-based attorney, Bethann Lloyd, could not be reached for comment Monday.

It was not known when Toothman’s punishment could be handed down by the Court of Judicial Discipline.

Toothman was nominated by former governor Ed Rendell in March 2009 to fill the seat vacated when H. Terry Grimes retired, and he was confirmed by the state Senate seven months later. Toothman won a full 10-year term on the bench in 2011, and later took over as president judge upon William Nalitz’s retirement. His term is set to expire in January 2022.