There is a time and place for almost everything, but a judge in Missouri recently found out that the time and place for the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll was not his courtroom.
Judge Matthew Thornhill, who presided over a St. Charles County Circuit Court, has agreed to leave the bench, The Associated Press reported.
Thornhill is a massive Elvis Presley fan, playing the singer’s music during hearings and even wearing a plastic Elvis wig while on the bench.
He has been issued a six-month unpaid suspension to avoid a disciplinary hearing by the state board. After the suspension, he will return to the bench for 18 months before resigning, the AP reported.
The Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline said Thornhill spoke about politics while on the bench, but zeroed in on his fandom of Elvis first, with the complaint having several photos of him wearing the wig while on the bench or posing with staff.
The commission said he would wear the outfit near Halloween and would ask people how they wanted to be sworn in before providing testimony, including playing Elvis music from his phone. He would also mention lyrics or the singer’s birth or death dates during proceedings when it was not relevant to the case.
The board explained, without saying how long it had been occurring, that the references violated the rules of “order and decorum” and “promote confidence in the integrity of the judiciary,” the AP reported.
Thornhill said he used his love of Elvis “to add levity at times when I thought it would help relax litigants,” adding, “I now recognize that this could affect the integrity and solemnity of the proceedings.”
Thornhill was elected as an associate circuit judge in 2006 and has been a circuit judge since 2024.
He is the longest-serving judge in the county, Fox News reported. He had presided over 25 jury trials and thousands of bench trials.