Judge Rapped for Using Position to Help Get Friend's Kid Out of Jail

A state appeals court judge was publicly reprimanded for calling Brazoria County officials "a bunch of backwoods hillbillies" because they jailed a friend's teen-age daughter overnight.

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a public reprimand to Jim Sharp, claiming he used his position to try to get a friend's daughter out of Brazoria County jail after she was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting.

The girl was arrested on Jan. 17 and charged with stealing merchandise from a department store. The 15-year-old girl's mother asked Sharp to get the girl out of jail, so she would not have to spend the night there, according to the commission's report.

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