Judge who admitted gambling addiction resigns from bench

Thursday, Nov. 4, 2004 | 9:15 a.m.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A municipal judge who admitted she was addicted to gambling and had taken loans from lawyers resigned Wednesday.

Judge Deborah Neal, 54, went on paid leave Aug. 16 from a job paying $123,744 a year. Neal, who became a judge in 1996, did not give a reason for the resignation.

After being hospitalized for treatment of depression, she is getting outpatient therapy.

Neal had said through an attorney that she had a gambling problem and received loans from lawyers. A judicial ethics commission is investigating, and her bailiff and court clerk received subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury.

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