Commission on Judicial Performance. Photo: Cheryl Miller/ALM

California state judicial disciplinarians have launched formal proceedings against a Ventura County judge accused of making demeaning and unprofessional comments to lawyers and courthouse employees.

Judge Jeffrey Bennett of the Ventura County Superior Court, elected to the bench in 2008, faces six counts of misconduct stemming from more than two dozen events between 2010 and 2018, according to a notice made public Wednesday by the California Commission on Judicial Performance. If the commission finds the charges are proven, Bennett faces discipline ranging from private admonishment to removal from office.

"You engaged in undignified, discourteous and offensive sexualized (or otherwise crude) conduct in the workplace," the commission wrote in its complaint.

In a statement, Bennett's attorneys at Klinedinst called the judge "straightforward and honest" with a "refreshing 'tell it like it is' approach to life" and sense of humor.

"Prior to the initiation of formal proceedings, Judge Bennett admitted he had made inappropriate comments," Bennett's attorneys, Heather Rosing, Dan Agle and Irean Zhang, said. "He sincerely apologized to the commission and implemented a thoughtfully developed plan for improvement and change."

"With the initiation of formal proceedings, Judge Bennett wants the public and his colleagues on the court to know that he will continue acting in the best interest of the Ventura County Superior Court and the justice system he has so honorably served for the past four decades," the attorneys wrote.

The charges portray a judge with a sharp tongue whose harsh words were often directed at prosecutors in his courtroom or in his chambers.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

In a 2017 chambers conference with attorneys, Bennett complained about how poorly Attorney General Xavier Becerra's office prosecuted cases, according to commission investigators. When a deputy attorney general noted that the judge had excluded most of her evidence in a case, Benett replied, "'You can tell [the attorney general] that's what he gets for going against my president,' or words to that effect," according to the complaint.

In a 2015 case, Bennett told a deputy district attorney that his position in a criminal case was "chicken shit" and that he wouldn't tolerate the DA bringing such charges when he took over the court's master calendar department, the complaint said.

In a 2016 in-chambers settlement discussion, the commission said Bennett accused a deputy district attorney of complaining about his actions in a previous case, causing him to incur $10,000 in legal bills to defend himself in a disciplinary matter.

"You [Bennett] falsely stated that your name had been 'clear[ed]' in the 2015 commission matter, and falsely stated that you had to pay lawyers $10,000 in connection with your defense in the matter," the complaint said.

Bennett is also accused of warning an African American defendant to stop "shucking and jiving" and telling two attorneys in his chambers about his "smoking hot 10″ dental hygienist whom he would let "do whatever she wanted" to him.

A former police officer, Bennett joined the Ventura County district attorney's office in 1989, eventually rising to the role of chief deputy.