A longtime town and village judge in Wayne County is stepping down amid allegations of misconduct, following an investigation by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Kathy Wachtman, who has served as a justice in both Wolcott Village Court and Huron Town Court, submitted her resignation effective December 31. She is accused of backdating an order of protection and issuing it without notifying the defendant or defense attorney, creating what the Commission described as a “false appearance” of timely service, according to documents released by the Commission on Judicial Conduct.
The investigation, launched in January, centered on claims that Wachtman issued an amended order of protection on her own initiative for a case handled by her co-judge, without informing the defendant’s legal representatives. The order allegedly added a new protected party and bore a date suggesting it had been enacted five days earlier than it actually was.
Wachtman, who is not an attorney, has held the role of Huron Town Justice since 2013 and Wolcott Village Justice since 2019. Her terms were initially set to expire in 2025. The Commission had notified Wachtman she was to appear for questioning on November 6. However, her resignation agreement effectively bars her from seeking judicial office in the future, and the Commission accepted her resignation without pursuing further disciplinary action. Documents show that the Commission finalized its acceptance on October 24.
This is not Wachtman’s first disciplinary issue. In 2019, she was censured for holding a preliminary hearing in a felony case without the defendant’s attorney present, a move the Commission criticized for failing to protect the defendant’s due process rights. In that case, the defendant’s lawyer had a scheduling conflict, and Wachtman continued proceedings without confirming if the defendant wished to proceed without counsel, thereby infringing on procedural protections, the Commission’s report said.
Robert H. Tembeckjian, the Commission’s Administrator, expressed concerns over the allegations. “It undermines a judge’s integrity to backdate an order… where an individual may be held to account for an act that had not been prohibited when it was committed,” he said, adding that such actions weaken the judicial process.
The Commission’s latest actions, including this stipulation, mark one of 143 permanent resignation agreements accepted since 2003. In total, the Commission has sanctioned or removed more than 800 judges for various forms of misconduct. Wachtman represented herself in the proceedings, according to Commission records.
As her resignation date approaches, the positions of Wolcott Village and Huron Town justices will be vacant, pending further appointments or elections.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.