Judge Swanberg was acquitted of a crime, but his pattern of behavior is still damaging

Judges are expected to avoid even the appearance of impropriety — a necessity to keep the public’s confidence

And that’s why the conduct of Benton-Franklin Superior Court Judge Sam Swanberg remains unsettling.

Despite last week’s not guilty verdict in the domestic violence case against him, the now-public details of his troubled marriage and his behavior toward an ex-girlfriend are still enough to cause concern in many people’s minds.

Swanberg supporters will say such doubts aren’t fair. He had his day in court and was acquitted, and that should be good enough to return him to the bench.

But judges — even more than most other elected officials — must be above reproach.

In January, his six fellow Superior Court judges voted unanimously to restrict his assignments pending the outcome of his legal problems, and he has not handled court cases since. It is unclear when he will return to the bench.

Our take is that while his behavior wasn’t a crime according to a Franklin County District Court jury, Swanberg made choices that were inappropriate for someone who sits in judgment of others, and his credibility is still shaky.

Swanberg’s troubles were made public earlier this year when a former girlfriend requested a no-contact order saying she felt harassed by Swanberg after she tried to leave him.

She was an employee at the Franklin County Courthouse when they met, and we said at the time that Swanberg should have known better than to start a relationship with a subordinate in the workplace.

That he continued to confront her at work, overwhelm her with texts, emails and voice messages and ignored her pleas to leave her alone is clearly behavior unbecoming of a judge.

We recommended he step down because a judge with a no-contact order against him is troubling enough.

The domestic violence allegations emerged when Swanberg’s ex-wife, Stephanie Barnard, filed a declaration of support for Salas’ request for the protection order against the judge.

When Franklin County Sheriff’s officials learned about the declaration, they began investigating Barnard’s claims. It’s important to note that Barnard did not come forward until the no-contact order with his girlfriend became public.

Barnard did not make the initial claim of violence, but because of the investigation, Swanberg was accused of two misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree assault stemming from incidents in February 2021.

He was accused of pushing Barnard down so hard that it left a bruise, and of dragging her out of a room by her legs during an argument.

In his defense, Swanberg said he never threw Barnard or pushed her to the floor, and that she slapped him.

His attorney, Scott Johnson, argued Barnard was a volatile woman prone to emotional meltdowns that turned destructive, and that she was capable and willing to hurt him or destroy his property.

Divorces can be ugly and the personal problems of a couple going through a break-up aren’t necessarily a basis to suggest a judge is no longer fit to serve.

However, in this case, Johnson made a point to say a lackluster investigation by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office didn’t pay attention to other witnesses or the larger context of the couple’s floundering relationship.

Johnson also argued it was troubling “when the government, the prosecutor, the sheriff’s office starts picking winners and losers because that is what happened in this case.”

It’s reasonable to wonder what his future relationship will be with the Franklin County Sheriff’s office and court officials in light of his trial.

In addition, many in the community are bound to continue to question Swanberg’s ability to remain neutral in matters involving divorce and custody cases, and other domestic disputes. The same cloud could shadow criminal cases involving those same issues.

In Washington state, the Supreme Court and Superior Court judges are exempt from the state’s recall process, and Swanberg is not up for election again until 2024.

That’s a long time for voters to wait to have their say. Swanberg has been acquitted of domestic violence, but his behavior doesn’t reach the high standards of appropriate judicial conduct.

Tri-Citians deserve better. We still recommend Swanberg step down.

This story was originally published August 16, 2022 at 10:24 AM.