Charles Budd Retired

Charles F. Budd Jr., a former Bangor, Maine District Court judge who oversaw the Penobscot County Adult Drug Treatment Court, was publicly admonished by the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar's disciplinary panel, which found he violated professional conduct rules barring activity "prejudicial to the administration of justice." The finding stemmed from a 2022 multiday conference in Nashville that Budd attended with his drug-treatment-court team; drug treatment counselor Samantha Pike said Budd sexually propositioned her and made repeated comments about her appearance and that of other women, making her uncomfortable both at the conference and after they returned to Maine.

The panel characterized the conduct as "minor misconduct," reasoning it caused little actual harm to the legal system and was unlikely to recur since Budd was no longer a judge, and allowed him to keep his law license. Separately, the First Circuit Court of Appeals revived a sexual harassment lawsuit against Budd in March 2025, allowing that civil case to proceed.