BISMARCK - North Dakota's Supreme Court has censured a state district judge in Minot for being tardy in handling his cases.
The court's Wednesday order says Judge Richard Hagar also has to pay $500 in investigation costs.
Records show Hagar agreed to the penalty. He didn't respond to requests for comment.
Hagar has been a judge since January 2007. The Supreme Court's ruling says Hagar had at least 10 cases that he took too long to decide. At one point, the supervising judge quit assigning Hagar new cases to let him get caught up.
In one case, Hagar presided over a trial and didn't issue a ruling for almost two years.
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The censure is a black mark against Hagar's record, but he's not suspended from his judgeship.
