A Lancaster city district judge dismissed several of her own parking tickets within the past year, court records show.

District Judge Kelly Ballentine dismissed a no-parking ticket and an expired registration ticket in December and a no-parking ticket in January.

According to the state Judicial Conduct Board's rules, district judges should disqualify themselves in proceedings where they are a party.

Indeed, a check of court records with regard to all of the county's district judges shows that those who had parking or traffic tickets had another magisterial judge handle their cases at the district court level.

Ballentine did not return several calls for comment on why court records show she dismissed her own tickets.

Other states have reacted strongly to judges who dismissed their own tickets. A Michigan judicial commission recently recommended that state's Supreme Court remove from office a district judge who dismissed nine traffic cases against himself and his wife.

In New Jersey, four Jersey City judges were accused of fixing parking tickets for themselves, friends and family members in 2007. One was indicted and two were accepted into a pretrial intervention program. One was cleared after an investigation showed he dismissed a ticket against himself that had been incorrectly written.

State or local authorities would not say if Ballentine's actions are being investigated.

Asked about the matter, Lancaster County President Judge Joseph Madenspacher said, "I don't feel it's appropriate to comment at this time."

Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman also declined to comment.

The state attorney general's office and the state Judicial Conduct Board do not confirm or deny the existence of investigations, their spokespeople said.

An attorney, Ballentine was elected to the city's southeast magisterial judge seat in 2006.

Ballentine received several tickets before she was elected.

She was found not guilty of a noise ordinance violation in 2005, after a summary trial, and had a speeding ticket withdrawn in 2003, according to court records. She paid the fine for another speeding ticket in 2001. Each of these matters was resolved before she took office.

But after her election, she dismissed parking tickets written against her, according to the court docket listed on the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System website.

Police issued a no-parking ticket to Ballentine on Nov. 1, 2010, saying she parked in a no-parking area in front of her house. Ballentine also received a second ticket on the same day at the same location, for allegedly having an expired registration.

A week later, police issued another no-parking ticket to Ballentine, again for parking in the area in front of her house.

Ballentine dismissed the first two tickets Dec. 29, almost two months after she received them, court records show.

Ballentine dismissed the third ticket Jan. 27, court records indicate.

In each case, Ballentine dismissed the tickets after she had received a summons to appear in her own court after not responding to the tickets.

The three tickets originally each carried $20 fines. But with penalties and costs, the fine for each had grown to $89.50 by the time Ballentine dismissed them.

The city has a step-by-step process for handling parking and traffic tickets, said Officer Thomas Gjurich, who represents the city in parking hearings.

After the city issues a ticket, the violator has 15 days to pay the fine.

If the violator does not respond in those 15 days, he or she gets a late notice from the city treasurer's office, and the fine increases.

The violator then gets another 15 days to respond. If no response is received, the violator gets a summons to appear in the district court where the ticket was written. The fine increases again.

At this point, the violator can plead guilty and pay the fine, or plead not guilty and ask for a hearing.

At that hearing, the judge issues a decision, which then can be appealed to the Court of Common Pleas.

In May, Ballentine was in the news after a jury acquitted a city man on three of four charges stemming from an alleged break-in at her home.

Ballentine testified she awoke in the middle of the night after she felt someone grab her leg in May 2010. She testified that she got out a pistol and fired a warning shot before the intruder fled.

A jury found the man, Pedro Plata, guilty of trespass but acquitted him of burglary, indecent assault and criminal attempt at a sex act.

Ballentine reacted in disgust to the verdict, and her family members and deputy sheriffs physically removed her from the courtroom.

cstauffer@lnpnews.com