Judge Wilfong disqualified from hearing cases brought by prosecutor’s office

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Robin Davis signed an order Thursday disqualifying Randolph County Circuit Judge Jaymie Wilfong from hearing any cases involving the Randolph County Prosecutor’s Office.

Davis appointed senior status judges Thomas Steptoe and Thomas Keadle to handle the cases on a temporary basis.

The order said Wilfong notified the Court a notice for her disqualification had been filed. She told the Court she did not want to be disqualified but Chief Justice Davis did so in the order noting the matters “are sufficient to warrant disqualification to avoid even an appearance of impropriety.”

The state Judicial Investigations Commission filed a statement of charges against Wilfong with the state Judicial Hearing Board earlier week. The JIC alleged Wilfong violated the Judicial Code of Conduct during a two-year extramarital affair with the director of the area community corrections program. Wilfong has admitted the sexual relationship with Travis Carter was inappropriate but has said it has not impacted her decisions from the bench.

The JIC said Carter or his subordinates appeared before Wilfong dozens of times during the time the two were in the relationship.