Arizona judge agrees to resign position as part of DUI resolution
Nov 3, 2023, 3:00 PM
An Arizona judge has agreed to resign her position and never serve in the same role in the state again.(Yavapai County Photos)
(Yavapai County Photos)
PHOENIX — An Arizona judge agreed to resign her position and never serve in the same role in the state again after she was convicted on a DUI charge earlier this year.
Yavapai County Judge Celé Hancock was convicted of misdemeanor DUI in May after a March arrest. Hancock’s agreement to never serve as a judge again in the state was announced Friday by the Arizona Supreme Court.
A complaint against Hancock will be closed as a result, according to the state Supreme Court. Hancock had been licensed to practice law in Arizona since 1996 and was first elected to the Yavapai County bench in 2010.
“The stipulated resolution provides a prompt and final resolution to the pending complaint, while also protecting the public and the integrity of the judiciary,” the Arizona Supreme Court said.
Prescott police said Hancock was arrested March 19 after they got a call about a possibly impaired driver.
They said Hancock was parked outside a grocery store before driving off and was pulled over by a police officer.
Hancock showed signs of alcohol consumption and failed several sobriety tests.
They said breath tests showed Hancock initially had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.158% with later tests at 0.219% and 0.214% — all far above Arizona’s DUI threshold of 0.08% for drivers.
State law defines extreme DUI for drivers who have a blood-alcohol content of 0.15% or higher.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
