Circuit Court Judge Marvin Wiggins suspended for ethics violation

Marvin W. Wiggins, the presiding circuit judge of the circuit that includes Dallas County, has been suspended without pay for an ethics violation. It’s the third time since 2009 that Wiggins has been suspended by the Court of the Judiciary, a body that oversees judges. 

In the latest complaint, Wiggins is accused of speaking directly to parties in a child custody case rather than going through their attorneys as required.

In 2015, Wiggins was suspended for 90 days for demanding that defendants who had no money to pay their fines give blood or go to jail. In 2009 he was publicly reprimanded and was suspended without pay for 90 days for not recusing himself from a voter fraud case that involved three of his relatives. All three of these complaints were found to be violations of the Judicial Canon of Ethics.

Wiggins serves the fourth judicial circuit, which covers Dallas, Bibb, Hale, Perry and Wilcox counties. He has been on the bench since 1999.