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POLSON- A Polson judge who resigned last week has confirmed that several sexual harassment complaints were filed against him by court staff members. Settlements were reached in both cases, but Judge Chuck Wall still decided to resign and return to private practice in Lake County.

Wall released a statement earlier this week that said in part, "judges are- and should be- held to very high standards of conduct, both in their professional and personal affairs...I have said some things that in hindsight were not becoming of a member of the judiciary. No harm was ever intended."

"We were caught totally off guard with the resignation and certainly the rapidity that was associated with that resignation. Literally we got it at 3 [p.m.], and it was effective at 5 o'clock that same day," Lake County Commissioner Paddy Trusler explained.

Retired Montana Supreme Court Justice Diane Barz is filling in for Wall while county commissioners search for an interim judge. The Lake County Commission has until August 23rd to find an interim judge who will serve for the rest of 2012.