A Kentucky Family Court judge who refused to hear adoption cases involving gays and lesbians has been found guilty of misconduct by the state's Judicial Conduct Commission.

The commission issued a public reprimand Tuesday against W. Mitchell Nance, who announced his intention to resign earlier this year amid the ethics and misconduct inquiry. That resignation was set to become final Dec. 16.

The order finds that "due to Respondent's retirement, a public reprimand is warranted, and is the only public sanction available."

Nance drew national attention in April when he said he would no longer hear adoption cases involving "homosexual parties" because he believes allowing a gay person to adopt could never be in the child's best interest.

The Barren and Metcalf county judge announced he would recuse himself from such cases because ethics rules require judges to do so when they have a personal bias or prejudice.

Background:Judge says he won't hear gay adoptions because it could never be in child's best interest

More on resignation:Judge who refused to hear gay adoption cases resigns amid ethics, misconduct charges

The commission, which investigates complaints of judicial misconduct and wrongdoing, charged Nance in September with multiple violations of judicial ethics rules, including those banning bias or prejudice based on sexual orientation.

The public reprimand released Tuesday notes that the Kentucky code of judicial conduct requires judges to "fairly and impartially decide cases according to the law."

It cited canons requiring judges to promote public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary and prohibiting prejudice based upon race, sex, religion, national original, disability, age, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status, among others.

"Judge Nance's refusal to hear and decide adoption cases involving homosexuals is violative of said Canons," the order said.

It also noted that Nance and his attorneys did not attend a scheduled hearing Dec. 15, foregoing their opportunity to present evidence in defense of the charges he faced.

In an earlier response to the commission, Nance's attorneys wrote that same-sex adoptions presented a "unique crisis of conscience for Nance, who has a "sincerely held religious belief that the divinely created order of nature is that each human being has a male parent and a female parent."

Those attorneys, Bryan Beauman and Scott Miller of Lexington, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday afternoon.

The order released Tuesday also noted that the district court member of the commission, Judge David Bowles, voted Friday that Judge Nance be removed from office before his resignation became effective Saturday.

"... Since at the time the vote was taken, Judge Nance's resignation was not yet effective (Bowles) believed that the only appropriate vote was a vote to remove him from office," it said.

Darcy Costello: 502-582-4834; dcostello@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @dctello. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/darcyc.