CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two days after a reporter from WSAZ-TV filed a complaint against Kanawha County Magistrate Tim Halloran for locking his courtroom during a hearing, a WSAZ vehicle was ticketed twice outside the Kanawha County Courthouse Annex at Halloran's request.

Halloran is the apparent subject of an investigation by the state Judicial Investigation Commission after WSAZ-TV News Operations Manager Mike Waterhouse reported that Halloran locked the door while arraigning Charleston Police officer Sean Phillip Patrick, 30, on charges of soliciting sex with a minor.

Patrick waived his right to contest extradition to Virginia in a hearing on Thursday before Kanawha Circuit Judge Jim Stucky. Patrick allegedly sent a sexually explicit picture to a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl in an online chat room. The person was actually a detective from Loudoun County, Va.

The tickets

WCHS-TV reporter Bob Aaron said he also got a ticket Wednesday, the same day the WSAZ vehicle was ticketed. He said he's been parking between the courthouse and the annex since 1982.

"And this is the first time we had a ticket in all that time," he said.

Warnings had been issued recently to crack down on police cars parking in the area, he said, but his vehicle had the proper permit.

Still, when Aaron, the husband of Kanawha County Magistrate Kim Aaron, was leaving the courthouse Wednesday afternoon, there was a city parking ticket on his car.

Aaron said his ticket was turned over to Charleston Mayor Danny Jones' office.

"We asked if there was a change in police enforcement of that area and they weren't aware of that," he said.

WSAZ-TV News Director Scott Saxton said he got a call from the mayor. "He asked to see the tickets," Saxton said. "We've never been issued parking tickets in the loading zones before. We have the permits."

Courthouse sources say Halloran first requested a bailiff, who is a Kanawha sheriff's deputy, to issue the tickets. The bailiff told Halloran that he couldn't because the loading zone was the city's jurisdiction.

Kanawha County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Johnny Rutherford said he couldn't confirm or deny that story.

"The conversations we have between us and the judges ... things they ask us to do, we can't comment on because it's part of security," Rutherford said.

Jones said he was told Halloran called the city parking authority to complain about the vehicles and that city Parking Director Alana Minear was caught in the middle.

"Here was a magistrate judge who calls the parking director. She's not sure of the dynamics here and she had to do her job. She directed the parking tickets to be given," Jones said.

Halloran is the apparent subject of an investigation by the state Judicial Investigation Commission after WSAZ-TV News Operations Manager Mike Waterhouse reported that Halloran locked the door while arraigning Charleston Police officer Sean Phillip Patrick, 30, on charges of soliciting sex with a minor.

Patrick waived his right to contest extradition to Virginia in a hearing on Thursday before Kanawha Circuit Judge Jim Stucky. Patrick allegedly sent a sexually explicit picture to a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl in an online chat room. The person was actually a detective from Loudoun County, Va.

The tickets

WCHS-TV reporter Bob Aaron said he also got a ticket Wednesday, the same day the WSAZ vehicle was ticketed. He said he's been parking between the courthouse and the annex since 1982.

"And this is the first time we had a ticket in all that time," he said.

Warnings had been issued recently to crack down on police cars parking in the area, he said, but his vehicle had the proper permit.

Still, when Aaron, the husband of Kanawha County Magistrate Kim Aaron, was leaving the courthouse Wednesday afternoon, there was a city parking ticket on his car.

Aaron said his ticket was turned over to Charleston Mayor Danny Jones' office.

"We asked if there was a change in police enforcement of that area and they weren't aware of that," he said.

WSAZ-TV News Director Scott Saxton said he got a call from the mayor. "He asked to see the tickets," Saxton said. "We've never been issued parking tickets in the loading zones before. We have the permits."

Courthouse sources say Halloran first requested a bailiff, who is a Kanawha sheriff's deputy, to issue the tickets. The bailiff told Halloran that he couldn't because the loading zone was the city's jurisdiction.

Kanawha County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Johnny Rutherford said he couldn't confirm or deny that story.

"The conversations we have between us and the judges ... things they ask us to do, we can't comment on because it's part of security," Rutherford said.

Jones said he was told Halloran called the city parking authority to complain about the vehicles and that city Parking Director Alana Minear was caught in the middle.

"Here was a magistrate judge who calls the parking director. She's not sure of the dynamics here and she had to do her job. She directed the parking tickets to be given," Jones said.

Later, Minear looked into the matter and decided to forgive the tickets, Jones said.

While the permits are issued for a half hour, court hearings routinely run over and the news vehicles are parked there for longer than that, he said.

"News people have to get in and out of there," Jones said. "You have little ladies carrying tripods on deadline. ... It's hard to get close to the courtroom for reporters, and we like to try to accommodate people."

Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper agreed with the decision to quash the tickets.

Had they not been quashed, Carper said he would have personally paid them.

"In light most favorable to him [Halloran], his timing stinks."

Halloran did not return phone messages for this story.

The investigation

Jones said an agent from the Judicial Investigation Commission is conducting interviews regarding Halloran locking the doors of his courtroom March 20.

"Apparently we got caught in the crossfire with this magistrate and the news media," he said. "I think the case with the police officer was handled properly. I'm not talking about in the courtroom, but with the police and the federal government."

Waterhouse also said he's spoken with an investigator for the commission.

Skip Garten, counsel for the commission, said he can't comment on whether there is an ongoing investigation.

Garten said when a complaint is filed, there is an investigation followed by a hearing by the nine-member commission.

The commission, made up of six judges and three non-judicial officers, can decide to dismiss the complaint, admonish the offending judicial officer, or forward the complaint to the Judicial Hearing Board.

That board will then conduct a hearing and make a recommendation to the state Supreme Court, which makes the ultimate decision on the case, he said.

Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.