| ► Judge J. Warren Bettis of Ohio; workaholic or serial thief? |
 |
 |
|
Is retired J. Warren Bettis of Ohio a workaholic or serial thief?
After his retirement from the Columbiana County Ohio Court of Common Pleas in 1988, Chief Justice Thomas Moyer unfortunately accepted Judge J. Warren Bettis’ application to be appointed as a visiting retire judge.
 
According to Ohio Supreme Court compensation records, from 1988 to 2004 Judge J. Warren Bettis claimed that he worked 1,750 consecutive eight-hour days. During this time frame, Judge J. Warren Bettis was paid nearly $700,000 in judicial wages.
One would have to be possessed with an I.Q. equal to or less than the legal speed limit in a school zone to actually believe that Judge J. Warren Bettis actually worked 1,750 consecutive eight-hour days.
In March 2003, I personally advised Chief Justice Thomas Moyer that Judge J. Warren Bettis’ claim to have worked 1,750 consecutive eight-hour days was a total sham. Even though Chief Justice Thomas Moyer well knew that Judge J. Warren Bettis’ claims were patently false, he continued to reappoint him to even more cases for the next 3 years (ca. 2003-2005). These repeated appointments allowed Judge J. Warren Bettis to claim that from 2003-2005 he worked an additional 280 eight-hour days.
A cursory review of Judge J. Warren Bettis’ travel expense records clearly prove that on numerous occasions he did not arrive at the courthouse in Columbus before 10:00 a.m. and left prior to 3:00 p.m. Therefore, on many, many occasions Judge J. Warren Bettis worked 5 or fewer hours on a given day from 1988 through 2005.
It is indeed a rather sad commentary on the state of the judiciary in Ohio that Chief Justice Thomas Moyer would continue to appoint someone of Judge J. Warren Bettis’ ilk (FYI: Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, Ilk is not a male ELK!) to thereby affording him the opportunity to continue to bill Ohioans for judicial services he clearly did not perform.
For Chief Justice Thomas Moyer to believe that Judge J. Warren Bettis actually worked 2,030 eight-hour days is facially absurd. This would equate to a sitting judge working eight-hours for at least eight (8) years, a claim that would not pass the involuntary laugh test.
And lastly, it is estimated that Judge J. Warren Bettis likely defrauded Ohioans to the tune of at least $350,000 in wages for judicial services he never performed.
|