While a similar state law claim against him has been allowed to go forward, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has dismissed a federal malicious prosecution case filed against a former Beaumont state district judge who allegedly had a process server arrested for showing up at the courthouse to serve a lawsuit on him.

The background to the dispute is as follows according to the Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Hartman v. Walker: In 2013, process server Stephen Hartman attempted to serve a summons on 252nd District Court Judge Layne Walker while he was presiding in his courtroom. Walker served on the bench from 2003 until his retirement in 2014. He joined Beaumont's Provost Umphrey in 2015.

Hartman was arrested by Walker's bailiffs for noisily disrupting a court proceeding. The events inside the courtroom were captured by a pen video recorder Hartman was wearing. Hartman approached the bar and informed the deputies he was there to serve process on the judge. The deputies instructed Hartman to leave the courtroom but he refused multiple times and placed him under arrest.