Judge Kenny Johns Jr. of Walhalla, SC; ethical gnome

The state of South Carolina presented Kenneth E. Johns Jr. with a law license in 1989 after he graduated from the University of South Carolina Law School.

It should be noted that before he duped the voters in Oconee County into electing him as a Probate judge, Kenny was employed as a funeral director and insurance agent. Of course, neither of these jobs paid as much as a judgeship does.

In one matter, Kenny found it acceptable to post comments on his Facebook page regarding the settlement of a lawsuit that was filed by the parents of Zach Hammond, a teenager who was shot and killed by former Seneca police officer Mark Tiller during an attempted drug arrest.

Johnny’s comments came about after the Hammond family filed an ethics complaint after the city of Seneca agreed to settle with the estate of the deceased in the amount of $2,150,000, a procedure that was under the jurisdiction of Kenny’s judicial office. In response to the settlement Kenny made the following Facebook posts.

• “In the end it's all about the money. Always. Unfortunately, I see it EVERYDAY.”
• “Once ck is in hand, they'll [Hammond family] disappear.”

The ethics investigation also evidenced that Kenny had clearly identified himself as a probate judge on his Facebook page, made comments endorsing a presidential candidate and had engaged in fundraising for a local church.

As a direct consequence of his misconduct, the enablers for Judicial Misfits sitting on the South Carolina Supreme Court punished Kenny by gifting him with a complimentary 60-day suspension from his judicial office.

As we speak (ca. November 2017), Kenny continues to sit as an Oconee County Probate Judge in Walhalla, South Carolina.