A district judge reprimanded a legislator last month for sending a letter about a case under his review.

“I am respectfully requesting that you not send me any further correspondence regarding this matter,” District Court Judge William Cashman wrote Rep. Jim Newberger. Cashman said the letter Newberger wrote amounted to ex parte communication, barred by court rules.

Newberger, a Republican from Becker, had written to Cashman on behalf of his constituent Jeff Friedrich, who was in a dispute that resulted in a judgment against him of “close to $250,000.”

“I am asking you to reconsider this case and allow Mr. Friedrich to explain his side of this issue before you,” Newberger wrote.

Friedrich, president of CarCo Automotive Inc., contributed $250 to Newberger in 2014 and does not appear in state databases as contributing to anyone else.

Cashman, of Sterns County, responded to Newberger that because his letter came by email, he read it without realizing its content.

“I did not know it was an ex parte communication about a matter that is still before me, I inadvertently reviewed the same,” Cashman wrote. The judge said he filed the letter and informed attorneys of record.

In a statement, Newberger defended his action but said he will not engage in similar behavior again.

“As a legislator, I will always be a tireless advocate for my constituents in Sherburne and Benton Counties. In this instance, once I learned of a judicial rule barring my correspondence on behalf of a constituent, I respected it,” Newberger said.

The case stems from two water trucks CarCo sold to Finken Water Inc., which Finken claimed were not in the promised condition. The two companies tried to settle their dispute through mediation and when that failed, the case appeared before Cashman in September. But no one representing CarCo showed up for the hearing in front of Cashman, leading to the $242,000 cash judgment.

Friedrich told the Associated Press he asked Newberger for help.

“I didn’t know who else to communicate with. I thought maybe he was in a situation to help me out,” Friedrich said. “I turned to him for assistance because he is a decent guy and has common sense.”

In response, Newberger emailed his letter, on official House letterhead, to Cashman saying, “I understand that mistakes were made and that Mr. Friedrich could have dealt with this issue in a better manner. However, I see this as an opportunity for you to show grace in this situation.”

Timothy Peters, attorney for Finken, said Newberger’s letter was stunning.

“He should have known better,” Peters said. “A legislator should know the constitution, should know there is a separation of powers, should know that he shouldn’t have ex parte communications with a judge who is overseeing a case.”

With very few exceptions, Minnesota court rules, like court rules all over the country, ban judges from such communications.

The Minnesota rule specifically states that “a judge shall not initiate, permit or consider ex parte communications, or consider other communications made to the judge outside the presence of the parties or their lawyers, concerning a pending or impending matter.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow Rachel E. Stassen-Berger at twitter.com/rachelsb.