Porter Superior Court Judge Christopher Buckley is attending treatment full-time, he told the Post-Tribune Tuesday, and has no intention of resigning from the bench as he manages the repercussions of a drunken driving arrest and conviction last month.
Buckley, a Republican who presides over Court 4, put his campaign seeking a second term on hold after accepting a plea agreement for drunken driving in Michigan City less than 48 hours after his Aug. 15 arrest.
Buckley, 46, of Valparaiso, has not served in court since his arrest. Different senior judges have been appointed each week to oversee the courtroom in his absence, according to a court official.
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“As to any final decision, I have not determined what awaits me. That will be from my Higher Power and that fate rests squarely with the people of Porter County,” he said in an email response to questions from the Post-Tribune about the future of his campaign.
A police report and arrest videos, provided to the Post-Tribune through a records request to the Michigan City Police Department, detailed the night of Buckley’s arrest along the Lake Michigan lakefront, his refusal to take a breath test at the scene and his trip to a nearby hospital for a blood draw, per a warrant signed off by a LaPorte County prosecutor, that revealed his blood-alcohol concentration was 0.221%, almost three times Indiana’s legal limit of 0.08%.
Buckley was initially charged with two Class A misdemeanors, operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent to .15% or more and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, endangering a person, and a Class C misdemeanor, operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Two days after his arrest, Buckley pleaded guilty to the Class C misdemeanor, according to court records. He was sentenced to six months on probation; a suspended sentence of 60 days in jail, with two days of credit for time served and good behavior; and treatment and monitoring through the state’s Judicial and Legal Assistance Program, or JLAP.
He remains on the ballot because his plea came long past the deadline to withdraw. Democrat Heather McCarthy is his opponent.
“My campaign remains focused on taking our message to the voters regardless of what my opponent does,” McCarthy said in a Tuesday statement to the Post-Tribune. “I continue to campaign as the candidate best positioned to project fairness and integrity and serve with honor.”
Porter County Democratic Party Chair Don Craft has urged Buckley to withdraw from the race and resign from his post, which Buckley said he won’t do.
“Despite the urging of the local Democrat party, my sound judgment was never once compromised, and I feel I am competent to continue serving if the people of Porter County so decide. By law, I will be on the ballot regardless of my intention, and I do not intend to resign as the local democrats urge me to do,” Buckley said.
Buckley, a Marine Corps veteran, said he is attending treatment full-time through the Veterans Administration in Crown Point and Chicago, as he is a disabled combat vet. In a statement after his plea agreement, Buckley said he has struggled with alcohol since his service in the Marine Corps more than 20 years ago.
He said he is “fully cooperating with the Indiana Supreme Court in regular communication,” and intends to comply with all directives and recommendations, as well as those from JLAP and the Veterans Administration.
“My primary focus remains on healing and recovery from combat-related as well as childhood trauma, what I believe are the underlying causes of recent events. I have been carrying these burdens my entire adult life, and until now I was too proud to ask for help,” Buckley said in his email.
He said he stands behind his “extraordinary record of fairness and leadership over the past decade” serving as a judicial officer. “I would like to point out that my issues of addiction have never once affected the performance of my duties in any way whatsoever.”
According to the police report and charging documents, around 9:05 p.m. on Aug. 15, off-duty police providing security for an outdoor concert along the lakefront near Bartlett’s Fish Camp saw a vehicle go around large concrete planters and pull into a restricted area.
An officer approached Buckley’s vehicle and asked if he could help. Buckley, according to the police report, responded with “Can’t you read?” and motioned toward the driver’s side of his 2024 Lincoln Navigator.
“At that point I saw that the wording spanning both doors said Keep BUCKLEY JUDGE in large letters,” the police report states.
Buckley, according to the police report, “proceeded to exit the vehicle in front of me and stumbled as he exited. His eyes were glossy, watery, and bloodshot. I asked how much alcohol he had consumed tonight and he stated none and after stating that he pulled his lips in tight, as if to not let any odor out.”
Buckley initially refused field sobriety tests, telling police that the officer was “going to ruin his career or life.”
Police in the report noted that each time Buckley mentioned his career or life was going to be ruined, police “believed it to represent that this investigation and possible results would jeopardize his status as a Judge.”
Three times, according to the police report, an officer had to grab Buckley’s arm and tell him he was not free to leave the scene.
Buckley, according to the police report, refused an on-scene chemical test. An officer told him he was under arrest for operating while intoxicated, according to the police report, and that the officer would be contacting an on-call prosecutor to request a warrant for a blood draw.
“Mr. Buckley stated that ‘I’m a Judge, you just ruined my career.’ I again reminded him that he did,” the police report states.
Police body-cam videos released with the police report show Buckley, in khaki shorts, gym shoes and an untucked, blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, stumbling and almost falling as he attempts field sobriety tests. He is transported to a holding cell at the Michigan City Police Department while an officer gets a warrant for a blood draw, taken to Northwest Health-LaPorte and then handed off to staff at the LaPorte County Jail.
Buckley released a statement after he was sentenced, stating, “I made a series of poor decisions that ultimately led to an arrest by the Michigan City Police Department for Operating While Intoxicated.”
He has said he had taken full responsibility for the allegations and had not received any special treatment.
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“In the end, although this has been a painful and rocky road, this will make me a better person and a better judge,” Buckley said Tuesday.
As judge, he oversaw misdemeanor and low-level felony cases, as well as the county’s mental health problem-solving court, according to his campaign website, which was still online Tuesday afternoon.
Buckley, according to online court records, was previously charged with a misdemeanor count of operating while intoxicated in Hobart City Court in 2009 and found guilty in that case.
In November 2021, Buckley received a public admonishment from the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications for his actions when he presided over the Lowell Town Court as its judge.
In that matter, according to the admonition, defendants before Buckley were given bail and then issued a “no bond” determination by Buckley when they were arrested on subsequent offenses.
“A review of the individual cases reveals that the files do not include any written motions to revoke or notations that an oral motion was made,” states the admonition.