A former municipal court judge in Deaf Smith County has been publicly reprimanded for berating and demeaning juveniles and their parents in her court.
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct found that Jennifer Eggen’s conduct was “clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of a judge’s duties and cast public discredit upon the judiciary.”
According to the commission’s findings of fact, when presiding over juvenile dockets Judge Eggen would berate and demean juveniles and their parents in her court.
“She regularly yelled at juveniles and their parents so loudly that courthouse staff could clearly hear through the walls of the courtroom,” the findings state.
On May 11, 2021, Eggen, per multiple witnesses, told a 15-year-old child she “hoped that when he got locked up, he would get a big Black man as his cell mate that would make him his bitch.”
The child left the courtroom very upset and crying, according to the commission.
On a separate occasion, Eggen told another juvenile, “he was nothing but a little b**ch that he was so small in stature that he would be an easy target for the bigger men he would encounter in jail.”
Also, per multiple witnesses, Eggen told a juvenile she “hoped they put him in jail with a big Black man that would make him his sex toy.”
The commission further found that Eggen regularly displayed favoritism to prominent community members or personal friends regarding various municipal cases before her.
She also engaged in a pattern of conduct biased against Hispanics, undocumented, and low-income individuals, including juveniles, according to the commission.
“Judge Eggen would not allow Hispanic, undocumented, or low-income juveniles to come during school hours to deal with tickets, telling them, ‘they were too stupid to be missing any school’ and forcing them to return after school,” the findings state, adding that she would not allow defendants who did not speak English into her courtroom unless they had secured an interpreter privately. The commission also said she had Spanish interpreters tell Hispanics they were “too stupid to be driving.”
The commission also said Eggen berated teenagers and their parents to humiliate them in front of others and attempted to prevent several high school seniors from graduating by ordering police to arrest them for unpaid tickets.
In her written response to the commission, Eggen only stated: “I am no longer employed by the City of Hereford Municipal Court having retired after 19 years of service.”
She later provided a supplemental response denying any misconduct.
CJC Nos. 22-0515 & 22-1411
