Tallapoosa County Probate Judge Leon Archer has been suspended after the Judicial Inquiry Commission filed a judicial ethics complaint against him Wednesday related to admittedly exchanging sexually explicit Facebook messages with a woman who was a former litigant in his court.

Archer admitted to the commission that among the sexually explicit photos he had exchanged with the woman on Facebook messaging were photos of his genitals, taken while at the county courthouse.

The Alabama Court of the Judiciary will hold a hearing on the JIC complaint Monday (Aug. 8) to resolve the case after the JIC and Archer agreed to have an expedited hearing, according to documents filed Wednesday night. Archer waived the right to enter responses to the complaint in the case.

Archer first admitted to the sexually explicit exchange earlier this year in an interview with the Alexander City Outlook.

Efforts to reach Archer or Tallapoosa County's attorney were unsuccessful prior to publication of this story.

Judges are automatically suspended from office with pay while charges are pending. The charges will be heard by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary.

Archer faces three charges by the Judicial Inquiry Commission, which investigates complaints of misconduct by judges.

All three of the charges involve alleged violations of the canons of judicial ethics, including that judges must: maintain high standards of conduct; avoid impropriety; maintain decorum; conduct themselves in a manner to promote public confidence in the judiciary; avoid bringing their office into disrepute.

If found guilty, Archer could face a range of punishment: from suspension without pay, public censure, or removal from office.

The JIC charges surround an explicit conversation Archer had between a woman, identified in the complaint only as "J.T.," between Jan. 7 and Jan. 28 of this year.

Archer had first met J.T. in April 2013 when she came to get a marriage license with her husband. Archer married the couple. But J.T. called back one week later seeking to get an annulment. Archer referred her to circuit court to get the annulment.

J.T. then contacted Archer in 2013 seeking help with a conservatorship, according to the JIC complaint. After that Archer did not have any contact with J.T. until July 2015 when he sent a friend request on Facebook, according to the complaint.

During the three weeks of Facebook messaging in January, most of the conversations took place during work hours on work days, the complaint states.

"This conversation included sexually explicit content, comments, and invitations or propositions," according to the complaint. "The messages also included pictures of the judge's genitals and a female's breasts, buttocks and genitalia."

At one point J.T. sent Archer a message expressing concern with the legality of an elected county official "asking for sexual favors in exchange for money and asking the person to call their private line during work." Archer replies "not if you call their personal cell #. I don't quite understand the question. I would not call the work #."

Archer confirmed to the JIC that he had taken the picture of himself in the Tallapoosa county Courthouse to send to J.T., according to the complaint.

J.T. around Jan. 29, met with Mitch Steen, a reporter at the Alexander City Outlook. J.T. provided a copy of her FB messages with Archer.

Archer told the newspaper that he got caught up in the conversations and apologized for his poor judgement, the Outlook reported.

"I should have known better, but I can't take it back," Archer said. "All that I can do at this point is ask my wife of 47 years, my children, my church family, friends and the people of Tallapoosa County to forgive me."

Archer, who became a probate judge in 2012, was among dozens of judges across Alabama who were conflicted over granting marriages to gay couples. He previously served as a Shelby County commissioner and a Tallapoosa County commissioner.

Updated at 6:30 a.m. Aug. 4, 2016 to note that Archer's hearing before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary to resolve the case will be held on Aug. 8.