This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Justice Court Judge Ronald R. Hare, who was accused of exposing himself to an undercover police officer in a park restroom, lost a vote Tuesday to remain on the East Millard County bench, according to preliminary election results.
With all seven precincts reporting, citizens declined 1,063 to 597 to give Hare another term on the bench.
Votes are still being counted in the Fillmore Municipal Justice Court, where Hare also sits. With 16 of 17 precincts reporting, Hare was behind 2,725 to1,255.
All state, county and city judges face a retention vote at the end of each term. The jurists who fail to get a majority must step down in January.
Police allege that Hare entered a men's restroom at Glendale Park in Salt Lake City on the evening of July 9 and masturbated at one of the urinals. He also allegedly tried to glimpse the genitals of an undercover vice squad officer standing at the next urinal.
Hare was issued a citation for a class B misdemeanor of disorderly conduct and released. He was placed on paid leave pending a December trial in Salt Lake City Justice Court.
In other retention votes, Judge Keith Stoney — who sits on the Saratoga Springs Justice Court and West Valley City Justice Court — was winning approval in the early counting. A group called Vote No on Judge Stoney accused him of violating the civil rights of the defendants who appeared in his court, an accusation he denied.
Judges rarely are ousted by voters. The last time it happened was in 2006, when 3rd District Judge Leslie Lewis lost a retention vote.
Lewis had angered hunting advocates by ordering a deer poacher's brother, a spectator, handcuffed and held for 20 minutes after he uttered a sigh and walked out of the courtroom in what the judge perceived as a show of disrespect.