Phillips resigns as Dunkirk judge

Tommy D. “Chip” Phillips II resigned Friday as judge of Dunkirk City Court and has been reprimanded by the Indiana Supreme Court in connection with an altercation in August of 2016 with the chief of the Dunkirk Police Department.

Friday’s court action was the result of disciplinary proceedings brought against Phillips earlier this month for violating rules of judicial conduct.

Phillips had been charged on Sept. 29 with battery against a public safety official, a Level 6 felony. He entered a plea of guilty to that charge in Jay Superior Court in March. The plea was the result of an agreement that the charge would be treated as a misdemeanor at the time of sentencing. He is now on probation.

The charge stemmed from an altercation on Aug. 16 during a meeting at the Dunkirk Police Department between Phillips, Dunkirk Mayor Gene Ritter, and Dunkirk Police Chief Dane Mumbower, who is Phillips’ nephew.

The court noted Friday that Phillips had become engaged in “a heated verbal exchange with Chief Mumbower, who started to leave the meeting. The heated exchange continued, and (Phillips) shoved Chief Mumbower in the midsection. (Mayor Ritter) calmed both men down and asked Chief Mumbower to stay to discuss the matters of concern that had prompted the meeting.”

The incident was investigated by the Jay County Sheriff’s Office a few days later, and Phillips was then charged.

In Friday’s ruling, the court found that Phillips had violated judicial conduct rules by failing to comply with the law and behaving in a manner that undermined “public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.”

But because Phillips has shown remorse and has sought treatment to deal with “underlying issues that resulted in his misconduct” the court decided that resignation and reprimand were the appropriate sanction.

Phillips had been suspended as judge from the time the initial charge was filed.