Nevada County Superior Court Judge Julie McManus filed for disability retirement with the state, nearly 10 months after she left the bench on medical leave.

Her decision comes amidst a move to start a recall petition due to her continued absence and alleged erratic behavior in Family Court.

And the stated reason for her retirement, a “traumatic brain injury,” has some community members questioning rulings she made in the time period between the injury and the date she went on leave.

“Judge McManus has been on medical leave since March 2011, and was subsequently found to have sustained a traumatic brain injury in a fall,” court Executive Officer Sean Metroka wrote in a press release. “McManus will require further treatment, the duration of which is unknown at this time.

“Although McManus hoped she would be able to return to work, she acknowledged her medical leave of absence has created difficulty for the court,” Metroka continued. “McManus felt it was in the best interest of the citizens and taxpayers of Nevada County to retire so the court may proceed with the steps necessary to fill her position. The court acknowledges Judge McManus' commitment to the children and families of Nevada County.”

McManus was appointed in December 2005 and ran unopposed in June 2008. Her term expires in 2014. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she was a Deputy District Attorney for 15 years, handling cases involving child sexual and physical abuse, and child homicide, and served as deputy county counsel for five years, representing Child Protective Services, Metroka noted.

“Her dedication and exemplary work ethic are a small part of her efforts to serve the citizens of Nevada County,” he added.

McManus has been absent from family law court since March 3, the day before she was scheduled to be in San Francisco for a meeting. She was also on medical leave for at least three weeks in 2009, after being hospitalized for injuries she sustained in a 15-foot fall from the deck of her home. It is not clear whether that fall was the cause of her brain injury.

Such an injury calls into question any judgments McManus made between the fall in 2009 and March of this year, said Don Bessee of advocacy group Family Court Reformers, which has been critical of the Family Court judge.

“They're saying she suffered a traumatic brain injury,” Bessee said. “Given that, all the rulings subsequent to that injury have to be called into question. All those strange things that have been articulated in complaints against her could be explained, the erratic behavior, the screaming at people. It makes sense, but now it leaves an open issue about that year and a half .... That seems to be grounds to reverse unsatisfactory decisions, on the grounds that she was incompetent.”

McManus filed her request for disability retirement on Dec. 15 with the state Commission on Judicial Performance, an independent state agency that investigates complaints of judicial misconduct and judicial incapacity and disciplines judges.

The request will be reviewed by the commission and then will be either accepted or denied; a staff member at the commission said there was no specific time frame for such a decision.

If the commission accepts the request, the governor's office would go through the process of appointing someone to McManus' seat. Her seat is now being filled from the state's assigned judge program, which is staffed by retired judges, at a cost of $715.15 per day. California Superior Court judges earn $178,789 annually, according to the Administrative Office of Courts.

To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4229.