Kelly Ballentine
A Lancaster city district judge was ordered Friday to stand trial on charges that she dismissed her own parking tickets.
Kelly S. Ballentine, 44, jotted notes and frequently whispered to her attorney during a two-hour preliminary hearing on a dozen criminal counts.
Ultimately, retired District Judge Harry Farmer Jr. bound all the charges — filed in February by the state attorney general — to Lancaster County Court.
"I'm sorry to be here. Obviously you were a very hard-working judge," Farmer said as he announced his decision. "But under these circumstances, the rub lies with the fact that these were your citations. If they were somebody else's, we wouldn't be here."
Ballentine closed her notebook as the judge relayed his order, but she showed no other reaction.
Ballentine likely will be tried later this year, unless a plea is lodged.
During the hearing, Ballentine's staff workers, as well as other county employees, discussed three tickets issued regarding Ballentine's BMW sedan in late 2010.
On each of the citations, Ballentine later wrote "Dismissed," followed by the date and her initials, according to testimony. According to the state Judicial Conduct Board's rules, district judges should disqualify themselves in proceedings in which they are a party.
"At no point did we deny that those initials were hers," Royce Leon Morris, Ballentine's attorney, said in closing arguments. "She did it, and it was not meant to prevent the administration of justice or obstruct it in any way.
"Everything she did, she did in the light of day."
Jonelle Eshbach, an assistant attorney general, argued there was an electronic footprint on county computers that showed Ballentine dismissed the tickets herself.
"She didn't conceal what she did. It's no contest it's her signature," Eshbach said in closings. "She did it so she did not have to pay."
"She did use her authority," Eshbach added. "But she misused it to dismiss her own parking tickets."
Morris suggested several times, and questioned each witness, about the "high volume" of cases that came into Ballentine's office on Locust Street.
Ballentine's staff members described the office as "extremely busy."
"Anything we did, Judge Ballentine would help us do," office manager Keisha Jones, also Ballentine's cousin, said of the many administrative duties.
Eshbach didn't dispute that.
"In this very, very busy office," Eshbach said, "had no one tipped off the press, she would've gotten away with it."
Ballentine was placed on paid, indefinite administrative leave when the attorney general filed charges Feb. 13. She remains free on $25,000 unsecured bail.
Her parents and other supporters attended the hearing at District Judge William Benner's office in Willow Street. Farmer, a retired Chester County district judge, was assigned to the case to avoid conflict of interest.
The investigation started in May 2011, according to testimony, when a citizen provided a tip to Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman.
Stedman assigned county Detective Dean Miller to look into it. After finding possible criminal activity, Stedman referred the case in September to the attorney general's office.
Ballentine is charged with six counts of tampering with public records, three counts of restricted activities due to a conflict of interest and three counts of obstruction of the administration of law.
Upon conviction, the offenses carry a wide range of possible sentences. The felony charges each carry a guideline sentence range of probation to three months in prison. The misdemeanor counts carry a guideline sentence of probation to a month in prison.
