The Ohio Supreme Court has publicly reprimanded a Portage County Judge accused of using her position to avoid being arrested for drunk driving.

Judge Rebecca Doherty, who is a former Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor, has been reprimanded for her actions when she was cited for DUI in February of 2019.

The Ohio Supreme Court's Board of Professional Conduct is recommending a public reprimand for former Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Rebecca Doherty, who is currently a Portage County Common Pleas Judge.

According to the Board of Professional conduct, Doherty had been drinking before driving her SUV into a ditch along Interstate 76 in February.

Doherty, who police say admitted that she had been drinking, said several times that she was a judge.

According to police, Doherty performed only one field sobriety test and refused a breathalyzer test.

Doherty pleaded guilty to DUI five days later and was sentenced to three days in a Driver's Intervention Program.

Her driver's license was suspended until February of this year, but the judge granted her limited driving privileges.

The board recognized that a judge’s operation of a vehicle while intoxicated imperils public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary. It also stated that a judge’s repeated nonresponsive statements about being a judge during the judge’s arrest is an abuse of the prestige of the office—even when they are “borne of the lip-loosening effects of alcohol.”

The Board of Professional Conduct found that Doherty violated the Rules of Judicial Conduct that call for a judge to act in a manner promoting public confidence, integrity, and impartiality.

Doherty worked as an assistant prosecutor in the Mahoning County Prosecutor's office for five years, until she won the election to Portage County Common Pleas Court in 2014.