Bazzoli has no idea why he was fired

Aaron Bazzoli says he has no idea why he was removed as one of the two magistrate judges in Elmore County by the state Magistrate's Commission, and was highly critical of the process that lead to that decision.

Bazzoli, the former county prosecutor, had been named to replace retiring Judge John Sellman last July, but on May 5 of this year was removed from office by the state commission. No official reason was cited for the removal.

Judges are on "probation" for the first 18 months of their service and can be removed without cause by majority vote of the 13 members of the Magistrate's Commission. No specific finding of cause is necessary, and findings are rarely released to the public anyway. The proceedings are secret.

The commission is composed of representatives from the county commissioners in each of the four counties comprising the Fourth Judicial District, mayors in cities over 10,000, two attorneys appointed by the Supreme Court and two citizens at large. County Commissioner Mary Egusquiza was the only person from Elmore County who serves on the commission.

Bazzoli said he was notified on April 14 that a hearing would be held concerning possible removal from the bench, "but I wasn't given a specific complaint, so I was blind. I had no opportunity to prepare at all."

"It's strange to me that as judges we are supposed to be guardians of fair hearings and due process, but when it comes to a hearing like this we're not given that right."

Bazzoli said he had "never had a single member of the commission sit in my courtroom" during the ten months he held the office.

He contended he had never received any complaint about his performance and had received evaluations from attorneys in the district that his service on the bench was well above average.

"So I'm going along thinking things are great and at no time am I getting any negative feedback. I contacted 15 attorneys...and they were all supportive and said I shouldn't have been removed.

Then on May 5 he was issued a notice of removal as he concluded his court day.

Bazzoli said he still has no clue as to why he was removed. The only concern, he said, seemed to be that he had taken some vacation time, which he said new judges aren't supposed to take within their first six months without approval of their supervising judge.

He said he still isn't sure who his supervising judge is, but had assumed it was fellow magistrate David Epis, who had been assigned as his mentor judge. "I'm apparently supposed to be reporting to a supervisor who has never contacted me."

He said he had informed Epis of his need to take some vacation time in order to help move his new family (he recently remarried) from Boise to the new home they had built in Mountain Home. He also had taken some time off to pick up his children from school or take them to the doctor, but never did so when there were any cases pending. "I wasn't missing hearings or blocking time out if nothing else was going on."

He said that "based on rumors" that was the best reason he could come up with for why he was removed, "and that was an honest mistake between myself and Judge Epis.

"The challenge seemed to be was I dedicated enough to be a judge.

"I feel some of those complaints weren't founded," he said, "but they were obviously communicated to the trial court administrator from someone in the courthouse in Elmore County."

Bazzoli admitted he was bitter about the decision. "I was never contacted by my supervisor, or presented with any negative comment, and suddenly I'm removed from office."

Bazzoli said the court rules make it difficult to appeal, because based on the administrative rules "they don't have to have any reason" and due to the public records privacy laws he can't see any of the evidence against him. "I didn't need to know who made the complaints, but it would have been nice to know what they were."

He said he was exploring his options, including challenging the decision based on a lack of due process. But he admitted it was a long shot.

He said the decision hurt because of his longstanding commitment to the community, both as a prosecutor and as a judge. "I really did see myself as being here for a long time," he said.

In the meantime, Bazzoli has take a job as deputy prosecutor handling criminal cases for Canyon County.