[Watch previous FOX 8 News coverage in the player above.] COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) -- The Ohio Supreme Court's conduct board has recommended suspension for Geauga County Judge Timothy Grendell, who was accused in a 2022 complaint of misconduct on the bench and in political dealings. The Board of Professional Conduct of the Supreme Court of Ohio in a Friday, Sept. 4, filing recommended suspending Judge Grendell without pay for 18 months, with six months stayed so long as he "refrains from further misconduct." Update on Haitian group’s lawsuit against Trump, Vance Grendell faced three counts for abusing his office in court cases and appearing impartial by backing COVID-era legislation sponsored by his spouse, now-former Republican state Rep. Diane Grendell. Judge Grendell in June 2020 closed his Chardon courtroom at noon in order to drive to Columbus testify in favor of House Bill 624, which would have required the state health department to publish coronavirus statistics daily rather than cumulatively. He told the House committee hearing the bill that the state health department was not telling "the whole truth about the COVID situation in Ohio and accused state health officials of fear-mongering. Months later, he told Rotary Club members his wife had asked him to testify, though judicial rules prohibit judges from voluntarily appearing at a public hearing unless it's regarding matters of the legal or justice systems. Though the board found HB 264 did impact the judiciary, Judge Grendell had testified that he didn't know that. Judge Grendell also violated conduct rules while overseeing a custody and visitation dispute. He ordered the detainment of divorcees' two boys for nearly three full days in May 2020, finding them unruly for refusing to attend visitations with their father, according to the filing. They had told the court he had physically abused them in the past. County deputies tasked with the arrests expressed their discomfort with it, believing they had no probable cause, the filing shows. A sheriff's lieutenant later told deputies a judge's order was not sufficient to take a child into custody, unless the department was directly involved in the case or had probable cause. The detention was later deemed unlawful. The board in its Friday opinion called it "horrific, and completely unnecessary and uncalled for." Family members attested one of the two boys "completely changed" for the worse after the detention, according to the filing. The board found Judge Grendell operated with a "selfish" motive, wanting to succeed in reunifying the family, where other courts had failed, and that he unfairly favored the father throughout the case. Judge Grendell's board testimony on the case and numerous other examples from its proceedings showed "a decided ignorance of the law at best, and an intentional disregard of the law at worst," reads the opinion. "Neither is acceptable for a sitting judge." In a separate count of conduct violations, Judge Grendell was accused of threatening to hold in contempt a Chardon police lieutenant who was investigating a trespassing complaint in June 2019. The county auditor's office had filed the complaint against employees of the juvenile court, over which the judge presides. Surveillance footage showed the judge, in his robe, on the sidewalk outside the courthouse, in view of passing vehicles and pedestrians, "angrily" yelling and shaking his finger at the officer, reads the filing. In a meeting soon after with the Chardon police chief, Judge Grendell threatened a federal civil action against the department's officers, who claimed they were just doing their jobs in investigating the complaint. Chief Scott Niehus said he felt intimidated. Judge Grendell also disparaged the auditor and county prosecutor at a meeting of the Geauga County Tea Party the following month, encouraging its members to "take action" against them under public malfeasance statutes, reads the complaint. Here’s what Ohio voters need to know about Issue 1 The board also recommended the judge pay for and complete eight hours of judicial ethics education, including training on the appropriate use of contempt powers. The panel heard testimony from dozens of witnesses and testimony from the judge himself over nine days of hearings. The parties brought hundreds of exhibits, "consisting of thousands of pages," reads the board's recommendation. Judge Grendell was admitted to the practice of law in 1978 and appointed to the Geauga County court in 2011 by then-Gov. John Kasich.