A District Court judge in Bethel is retiring amid allegations of improper judicial conduct.
KYUK reports that District Court Judge Dennis Cummings is retiring in April.
Cummings, a district court judge in Bethel for about six years, is being investigated a second time by the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct for alleged ex parte communications. Cummings is accused of speaking off-record with one side of a trial.
Cummings was suspended two years ago from the bench for three months after the commission said he passed notes to the prosecution.
In the latest case, Cummings is accused of telling a prosecutor twice off-record to look at an opinion that would help his case. A March hearing on the matter is set in Anchorage.
Cummings did not comment on his retirement.
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