The state Commission on Judicial Conduct levied its most severe discipline – a censure – against Hartl and barred her from working as a judge again without the commission’s approval.

The commission said Hartl’s behavior was “undignified,” violated several judicial canons, and harmed the public’s respect for her and the judiciary.

Hartl, 46, resigned Dec. 19 as one of Federal Way’s two Municipal Court judges. She was appointed to the position in March 2007 after serving as a Municipal Court judge in Normandy Park and Des Moines.

Hartl said in an interview Friday that she regretted having inappropriate contact – what she and the commission called “a single sexual encounter” on Dec. 13 – with a public defender who appeared before her in court, and then not disclosing it.

Neither Hartl nor the commission said what the single sexual encounter was.

“There was misconduct,” Hartl said. “I accept the consequences.”

But she denied trying to mislead the commission.

“I was just trying to tell them but being circumspect on it,” Hartl said. “I had no intent to mislead them, and I never asked anyone to mislead them.”

The commission’s report, which Hartl agreed to and signed, outlines disclosures leading to the censure.

Hartl told the commission Dec. 17 about events at a party she hosted at her Federal Way house on Dec. 14.

She said she became “highly intoxicated” at the party, which was attended by five court employees. Hartl said she told court staff members she had “gone out for drinks one time” with public defender Sean Cecil and that “some flirtation” had occurred. She also showed them a text message from Cecil complimenting her appearance.

‘THERE WAS A FLIRTATION’

Hartl later reiterated to the commission that no further inappropriate activity with Cecil had occurred.

Also Dec. 17, Hartl left a voice message for then-court administrator Gina Palermo, who had been at the party.

In the message, Hartl explained she had told the commission that she and Cecil “went out for drinks and there was a flirtation and, you know, something about dating, quote unquote, and text messages.”

Hartl asked Palermo to pass that information on to the other clerks at the party and let her know if she should “add to that or if they would support that version.”

In January, Federal Way Municipal Court Judge Michael Morgan filed a complaint with the state bar association against Cecil over his relationship with Hartl. He also banned Cecil from representing indigent defendants in Federal Way’s court.

Cecil, 31, then disclosed his relationship with Hartl in a letter to the state bar association, calling it a “single intimate encounter.”

The commission investigated Hartl’s Dec. 17 report and alleged she was “evasive and misleading.”

It said her message to Palermo was “an attempt to influence the statements and testimony of potential witnesses in a commission proceeding.”

The commission said Hartl’s sudden resignation and subsequent media reports about her “unseemly behavior” at her party “significantly disrupted the court’s operations.”

After receiving the commission’s allegations, Hartl admitted in March that she had a single sexual encounter with Cecil on Dec. 13 and that she told court employees at the party the next day that she had a sexual relationship with him.

POSSIBLY MISLEADING, LAWYER SAYS

Hartl denied asking anyone to be dishonest with the commission and wrote that she did not have a clear memory of what she originally reported.

The commission said Hartl violated the Code of Judicial Conduct by continuing to preside over cases involving Cecil after having an intimate relationship with him.

By doing so, Hartl “failed to act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,” the commission said.

But the commission said there is no evidence that her relationship with Cecil – which started in early December and ended Dec. 14 – influenced Hartl’s actions in any cases involving Cecil.

The agreement says Hartl’s conversations with commission staff members and her message to Palermo “reasonably appeared to be an effort to conceal her misconduct by misleading the commission and by suggesting other potential witnesses withhold relevant information.”

Anne Bremner, Hartl’s attorney, said Friday that she would ask for a couple of amendments to the agreement, including that Hartl believes her first reports to the commission “may be perceived” as misleading.

Reiko Callner, the commission’s executive director, said she doesn’t know how the commission will respond since Hartl and Bremner already had agreed with and signed the report.

“This is the order of the commission,” Callner said.

Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647