### THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA In The Supreme Court

In the Matter of Kenneth E. Johns, Jr., Respondent.

Appellate Case No. 2016-001996

Opinion No. 27677
Subm itted October 26, 2016 – Filed November 16, 2016

DEFINITE SUSPENSION

Joseph P. Turner, Jr., Senior Assistant Disciplinary Counsel, of Columbia, for Office of Disciplinary
Counsel.

John S. Nichols, of Bluestein Nichols Thompson & Delgado, LLC, of Columbia, for respondent.

PER CURIAM: In this judicial disciplinary matter, respondent and the Offic e of Disciplinary Counsel have entered into an Agreement for Discipline by Consent pursuant to Rule 21of the Rules f or Judicial Disciplinary Enfor cement contained in
Rule 502 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules (SCACR). In the Agreement, respondent admits mis conduct and consents to the iss uance of a public reprimand or a suspension of up to six (6) months. Respondent requests that any suspension be imposed retroactiv ely to April 12, 2016, the date of his interim suspension. We accept the Agreem ent and suspend respondent fro m office for six (6) months, retroactive to the date of respondent's interim sus pension. The facts, as set forth in the Agreem ent, are as follows.

Facts

An estate was opened in Oconee C ounty for the estate of Z.H. Z .H.'s parents had filed a wrongful death suit on be half of the estate against the Seneca PoliceDepartment. The case was settled with the family for the sum o f $2,150,000. Due to the public nature of the case , the settlement received exten sive press coverage.

Despite the matter being before t he probate court for administr ation of the estate, respondent expressed hi s opinion about the s ettlement on Facebo ok posting: "In
the end it's all about the money. Always. Unfortunately, I se e it EVERYDAY." Respondent later added: "Once ck is in hand, they'll disappear ."

A review of respondent's Facebook account revealed that he has made extensive political posts, including ones i n which he appears to endorse the presidential candidacy of one candidate. A re view of respondent's Facebook account further revealed a post in which he engaged in fundraising for a local church. Respondent's Facebook account identifies himself as the probate court judge for Oconee County and the account, a long with all of respondent's p osts, were accessible to all members of Facebook.

Respondent greatly regrets his conduct with regard to the estat e of Z.H. matter and is sorry for any distress that it may have caused Z.H.'s family . Respondent recognizes that, while he did not mention the estate of Z.H. by name on Facebook, it was inappropriate for him to make the statements as it would be clear in the community to what he was referri ng. Respondent also recognizes that it was inappropriate for him to make political posts and to post information about a
fundraiser for a local church.

Respondent has now removed reference to himself as a judge on h is Facebook page. He submits that he is deeply embarrassed about the matter and seeks to assure the Court that, in the future, he will not make referenc e to anything involving his court and will re frain from making political post s or posting fundraising information on Face book or any other social media. Respondent is extremely proud of the Oconee County Probate Cou rt and wants to assure the Supreme Court that he will do not hing further that could damage the reputation of the probate court.

Law

Respondent admits that by his conduc t he has violated the follo wing provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct, R ule 501, SCACR: Canon 1 (judge shall uphold integrity and independence of judi ciary); Section 1A of Canon 1 (judge should participate in establishing, mai ntaining and enforcing high sta ndards of conduct, and shall personally observe tho se standards so that integrity and independence ofjudiciary will be preserved); Canon 2 (judge shall avoid improp riety and appearance of impropriety in a ll judge's activities); Section 2A of Canon 2 (judge shall respect and comply with the law and shall act at all time s in manner that promotes public confidence in i ntegrity and impartiality of jud iciary); Section A(1) of Canon 4 (judge shall conduct a ll of judge's extra-judicial activities so that they do not cast reasonable doubt on the judge's capacity to act imp artially as judge); Section A(2) of Canon 4 (judge shall conduct all of judge's extra-judicial activities so that they do not demean the j udicial office); Section C(3)(b )(i) of Canon 4 (judge shall not personally parti cipate in the solicitation of funds or other fundraising activities); and Sect ion A(1)(b) of Canon 5 (judge shall not publicly
endorse candidate for elec tion to public office).

Respondent also admits he has violated the following Rules for Judicial Disciplinary Enforcement, Rule 502, SCACR: Rules 7(a)(1) (it shall be ground for discipline for judge to violate Code of Judicial Conduct) and R ule 7(a)(9) (it shall be ground for sanction for judge to violate Judge’s Oath of Off ice contained in Rule 502.1, SCACR).

Conclusion

We find respondent's misconduct warrants a six (6) month suspen sion from judicial duties, retroactive to April 12, 2 016, the date of his interim suspension. We therefore accept the Agreement for Discipline by Consent and su spend respondent from office for six (6) months.

DEFINITE SUSPENSION.

PLEICONES, C.J., BEATTY, KITTRED GE, HEARN and FEW, JJ., concur.