A Democratic blogger and attorney has filed an ethics complaint against Arkansas Judge Dan Kemp that accuses the chief justice hopeful of violating judicial rules in a plea deal approved last year.
Kemp's campaign called Thursday's complaint a "cheap political stunt." A local prosecutor negotiated the deal and said in a statement provided by the campaign that he did so more than a year before Kemp launched his bid.
Matt Campbell wants the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission to investigate. He says Kemp knew the defendant's parents, who later contributed to his campaign, and should have let another judge handle the case. In the plea deal, Kemp accepted a guilty plea to a misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge while dropping other drug charges.
Kemp faces Justice Courtney Goodson for chief justice.
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