Photo Credit: Fotolia A Bronx judge who was reportedly unhappy with being transferred to a domestic violence part and refused to show up for work has been stripped of his staff and chambers, but will continue to collect a paycheck. Bronx Supreme Court Justice Armando Montano had presided over felony criminal cases and pretrial hearings and was reassigned to the Integrated Domestic Violence court, which operates under a “one judge, one family” policy that is intended to bring together criminal, civil and matrimonial involving one family in which an underlying issue is domestic violence under the jurisdiction of a single jurist. But, in an article published on Monday morning, the New York Post reported that Montano refused to show for his new assignment. In a letter to Justice Robert Torres, the administrative judge for criminal matters in Bronx Supreme Court, Montano said he could “not comprehend” why he was being assigned to handle family and civil matters, considering his “proven” record of presiding over felony cases, the Post reported. On July 18, Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks of the Office of Court Administration issued an order diverting Montano's caseload, as well as any new cases that would have been headed his way, and relinquishing him of his judicial resources, which also included a parking space. "It's an important, complex criminal part,” said court system spokesman Lucian Chalfen of the domestic violence court. “For whatever reason, he refused the assignment.” But while OCA has the power to transfer judges to other courts, take away office space and control the assignment of cases, it can't fire elected judges. The authority to suspend judges or remove them from the bench lies with the Commission on Judicial Conduct. Meantime, Montano will continue to collect a $208,000 salary. Chalfen declined to comment on whether OCA has referred the matter to the commission. Montano was first elected to the bench, as a Civil Court judge, in 2013. From there he was named an acting state Supreme Court justice and was elected to the state Supreme Court last year. The Post reported that Montano is being represented by Paul Gentile, who previously served as an acting Bronx district attorney and that Montano would take legal action if he is not given 30 days to find a resolution to the situation, according to the Post. Gentile did not respond to requests from the Law Journal for comment.