Judge issued an order to clerk for possible contempt but then reversed course

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va – The chief judge of the Chesterfield Circuit Court issued an order to the elected clerk of the same court last week to possibly hold her in contempt. However, the judge quickly reversed his decision before the situation could have reached that point.

Judge David Johnson issued an order on September 5 compelling circuit court clerk Amanda Pohl to appear in his courtroom for a hearing.

He issued a Rule to Show Cause, and CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone said a judge has the authority to issue such an order when a person violates the court's orders.

“If a judge issues a show cause, it's often the same thing as saying, ‘Come in and explain why you did not comply with the court's order,'" Stone said.

Had a hearing actually took place, Stone said, "the judge would have made a decision about whether the failure to comply with the court order was willful and appropriate for a finding of contempt of court.”

Chesterfield County Sheriff Karl Leonard personally served the paper to Pohl which he said was "a matter of professional courtesy whenever papers are issued on elected officials."

Judge Johnson's September 5 order stated that he directed Pohl to present to the court "complete paper files" for two of his cases, but she did not do it, prompting the Rule to Show Cause.

He set a hearing for her to appear on September 10.

But the next day, on September 6, Judge Johnson retracted his order saying he had now found it "unnecessary to proceed with a hearing."

In a statement to CBS 6 regarding the orders, Pohl said, "We would like to clarify that judges have always had, and will continue to have, access to the necessary files."

Pohl's statement and the judge's orders did not contain further information about what led to the issue, so CBS 6 asked for more details.

According to Pohl's office, her staff had been working on a modernization project for several months to transition away from an antiquated filing process to a paperless record keeping system in an effort to support the needs of the public and those who use the court's services on a day-to-day basis.

She said Chesterfield was the only courthouse of its size to duplicate all digital records with paper files, needlessly maintaining more than a mile of physical files.

Simply put, her office was running out of space to store these records.

Pohl said the modernized system was fully compliant with Virginia law and still allowed judges to maintain their own paper files if they chose to do so.

However, she said Johnson insisted that her office maintain paper files, but her staff was unable to meet this request due to the constraints on budgeting and resources.

While the matter appears resolved at this point, Stone said the initial development was something he had not seen done before between a chief judge and the elected clerk.

“The issuance of a show cause is a very common thing. You see that happen all the time — not so much with a clerk of the court granted," Stone said.

Pohl said she was pleased the order was withdrawn and "looks forward to further conversations on this matter."

CBS 6 reached out to Johnson's office to request comment but did not hear back.

The circuit court clerk is a constitutional officer and is not under the chain of command of the judges. However, the clerk is still subject to court orders.

In Virginia, circuit court clerks are elected by voters, and judges are appointed by lawmakers.

After winning her election in 2023, Pohl was sworn in about eight months ago and will serve an eight-year term.

Judge Johnson was appointed to his most recent term in December 2022 and will serve an eight-year term.

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