A Seventh Judicial District county court judge has been suspended from his job by the Colorado Supreme Court after the state judicial commission investigated reports of judicial misconduct.

San Miguel County Court Judge Sean Murphy was issued a summons on Nov. 4 after the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline investigated complaints about his performance.

Those complaints included “a pattern of lengthy and inexcusable delays in issuing orders, sometimes for years, failing to issue orders at all in several cases, beginning hearings substantially late for nearly all court appearances, per witness accounts, conducting court remotely so often that stakeholders question whether he is a resident of his judicial court and failing at times to act professionally when conducting court.”

The commission gave Murphy chances to respond to these allegations, in June and September, and didn’t receive a “meaningful response” to either letter. He also didn’t respond to requests for him to respond from Chief Judge Cory Jackson, who supervises him, according to the judicial commission’s complaint.

“Judge Murphy’s behavior, put simply, is concerning,” the complaint said.

The complaint specifically cited incidents including a failure to issue a final order in a small claims case for 15 months after the trial, an eviction case delayed by more than 19 months, failure to rule on probation violation cases, and delayed orders for up to two years in some cases.

The complaint also cited concerns about his professionalism in holding court. “In one case, a partially nude male (clothed only with a towel around his waist) walked behind Judge Murphy during a hearing, making himself visible on screen to all parties. In another case, Judge Murphy had a person serve him lunch during a hearing, which he ate during the hearing,” the complaint said.

In the complaint involving the half-naked man, Murphy appeared from a residence or a hotel room, where a man appeared behind him to gather his clothes. “This was clearly visible to all people present for the hearing,” the complaint said.

Murphy is also being disciplined for his demeanor toward staff, in which he has been accused of screaming at his clerk for not answering his phone when he was late to a hearing and blaming the clerk for his tardiness.

Murphy was appointed to his position in 2020. He has, at times, presided over cases involving parties in Ouray County, especially in cases where other judges recused themselves for possible conflicts of interest. One of the 25 cases of concern listed in the complaint involved a sex assault case in Ouray County.

Murphy’s cases will be handled by other judges in the district for the time being.