July 7, 2006, 10:56PM

Ex-Justice Admonished:
State says Andell violated judicial ethics while he served as a federal education official

By JANET ELLIOTT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN - Former Houston judge Eric Andell has been publicly admonished by the State Commission on Judicial
Conduct for cheating taxpayers while he was a federal education official.

In a report publicly released Friday, the commission said Andell violated judicial ethics rules that require a judge to
act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.

Andell is a former juvenile court judge in Harris County and a judge on the 1st Court of Appeals.

A year ago he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of violating the federal conflict of interest statute while he
served as a top official in the U.S. Department of Education. The offense was related to travel that Andell
approved for himself at government expense for trips which included travel for personal purposes.

At the time of the trips, between November 2002 and September 2003, Andell was deputy undersecretary for safe
and drug-free schools. He was also still working as a visiting judge in Texas.

The conduct commission said that as part of several trips, Andell was paid for sick leave "when in fact he was
working and being paid as a visiting judge in Texas."

Federal prosecutors said last year that the 14 trips were motivated, at least in part, by Andell's desire to accrue
service time toward a state judicial pension.

He was sentenced in July 2005 to a one-year term of probation, fined $5,000 and ordered to perform 100 hours of
community service. He also paid full restitution in the amount of $8,660 to the federal government.

Richard Mithoff, who represents Andell, said Andell works as an arbitrator and mediator and sometimes serves as
a visiting judge in courts around the state.

Andell publicly apologized last year and issued a similar statement Friday.

"I have always been keenly aware of the privilege and the responsibility of serving the public," he said. "I take full
responsibility for violating the conflict-of-interest statute."

An admonition is the least severe of three public sanctions available to the commission, which also can issue
warnings and reprimands.

janet.elliott@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4032431.html