Idaho Judicial Council reprimands Kootenai County magistrate judge for changing clothes without securing room

The Idaho Judicial Council publicly reprimanded Kootenai County Magistrate Judge Clark A. Peterson on Thursday for failing to secure his judicial chambers when changing clothes.

Peterson has been on leave over “personnel issues” for more than seven months, according to orders signed by Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice G. Richard Bevan.

Judicial officers in the court have been covering 56-year-old Peterson’s docket for reasons unknown to the public.

In a news release posted to the council’s website, the council announced that Peterson had been reprimanded with his consent, “upon a finding regarding Judge Peterson’s judgment in failing to alter or eliminate his practice of changing clothes in his chambers without properly securing them, in violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct.”

It’s unclear if the violation will result in any other type of punishment. Executive director of the council Jeff Brudie did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is not the first time Peterson has been reprimanded by the council. He was reprimanded for inaccurately reporting his vacation and leave time in 2020 and docked seven days of vacation pay.

Peterson also faced public outcry in 2013, when multiple people complained his devotion to tabletop role-playing fantasy games was interfering with his judicial work.

Following that controversy, Peterson received a “private reprimand” by the council in 2015, according to documents obtained by The Spokesman-Review.

It’s unclear if or when Peterson would return to the bench in Coeur d’Alene. Peterson declined to comment on the reprimand when reached Friday afternoon.