Six months after being accused of making racist and sexist remarks, 4th Judicial Circuit Judge Mark Hulsey resigned Monday.
It came a day before the Florida House of Representatives was scheduled to begin discussing rare impeachment proceedings against him.
Chief Judge Mark Mahon said Hulsey was “very quiet, very reserved” when he delivered his resignation letter Monday morning.
“I know this has been very stressful on him,” he said. “But I know there is some relief the matter is over.”
Mahon said he recently learned the House Public Integrity and Ethics Committee was considering the impeachment process, but was asked to keep it confidential.
House Speaker Richard Corcoran told The News Service of Florida it was “disconcerting at best” that the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission process was taking so long.
Hulsey was first notified by the JQC of formal charges in July, followed by two amended notices, including the latest filed Dec. 9. A five-day trial was scheduled for June.
The allegations included Hulsey saying African-Americans “should go get back on a ship and go back to Africa” and using derogatory terms when referring to a female staff attorney.
He also was accused of creating a hostile work environment, having his judicial assistant handle personal tasks for him and using the circuit’s FedEx account to mail campaign materials.
Last month, Hulsey made a series of admissions and apologies, ranging from saying he should not have had his assistant put a letter from his campaign treasurer to the Florida Elections Commission on judicial letterhead to not getting written permission from people before listing them as supporters in a letter sent to Jacksonville Bar Association members during his campaign.
Hulsey has denied making racist and sexist remarks from the beginning of the JQC case.
Corcoran called Hulsey’s behavior “very egregious.”
“It didn’t take us that long to figure out that the behavior he engaged in was repulsive and yes, it’s a victory for justice,” he told the news service.
Mike Tanner, who was representing Hulsey in the JQC matter, did not return a call for comment.
Mahon said he never discussed the accusations with Hulsey, but thinks they stemmed from statements allegedly made a long time ago.
He reassigned Hulsey in July from the criminal division to handle probate cases.
Mahon said no one has ever complained to him about how Hulsey sentenced defendants, as it relates to the allegations against him.
“Not in a racist fashion. There was no hint of that,” he said.
Mahon thinks the allegations sometimes made it difficult for Hulsey to do his day-to-day job.
“I was disappointed to see a judge ever go through this,” he said.
Gov. Rick Scott will appoint a replacement for Hulsey, who was re-elected in November to a second six-year term by a 753-vote margin. The process typically takes four to six months.
The circuit already was short one judge, with the recent retirement of Henry Davis, who handled juvenile cases. Several senior judges are available to handle the extra workload.
Hulsey is the son of the late Mark Hulsey Jr., a local legal icon who, while president of The Florida Bar, encouraged the board of governors to create the JQC. He served on the panel for 12 years.
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