Former Judge Tracie Hunter will be released from jail Oct. 5 after serving less than two months of a six-month sentence. That's according to a statement from Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil.
The former Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge was convicted of mishandling a confidential document in 2014.
In a statement to the media Thursday, Sheriff Neil says, "After my review of her participation in a court authorized work detail program, I have concluded that Tracie Hunter began the required service on August 12, 2019. Therefore, using the criteria within our policy to apply credit to her sentence, my staff determined that an earlier release date was appropriate."
Hunter will be released Saturday.
While being placed in custody during her court sentencing in July, Hunter filed a grievance claiming she was injured. The Sheriff's Department said it would investigate.
In video taken in the courtroom by our news partner WCPO, Hunter appears to go limp when deputies try to take her into custody after sentencing. She was ultimately dragged from the courtroom by a deputy. Some have argued that Hunter was punished more harshly than a white person in the same position would have been.
After Hunter was sent to jailin August, her supporters,including Ohio Senator Cecil Thomas, called for her early release.
"As long as she sits in there we're going to continue to ratchet up the pressure. It's just that simple," Thomas said. "Yes, we will be calling for a national economic slowdown for those who are considering coming to Cincinnati for conventions and all of that stuff."
