A Wilson County general sessions judge apologized Thursday for a comment he made in open court about working like "a regular white man" and not being "a slave."

Haywood Barry was discussing scheduling a hearing for a black defendant. Audio from his courtroom includes his conversation with an attorney.

"I'm not working second shift. I'm going to work like a regular white man, as they used to say. ... I'm not going to be a slave," Barry said, according to the audio recording obtained by The Tennessean. "Don't allow that any more. Don't allow that any more."

Judicial rules in Tennessee bar judges from behavior that shows "bias or prejudice."

In a phone interview, Barry described frustration with scheduling when the comment was made Tuesday.

"It was probably a very inappropriate statement," Barry said. "I'm sorry I made it. I'm ashamed of the fact that something like that would even come out of my brain."

Elected in 2014, Barry is serving an eight-year term as a General Sessions Division II judge. He was also a general sessions judge from 1974 to 1998 and was a Lebanon councilman for two terms, starting in 2004, before he ran again for the judicial post.

Barry does not plan to run again when this term expires in 2022.

Barry is the same judge who was on the bench this week when a defendant smoked marijuana at the podium and was arrested.

“It’s not indicative of who he is,” Lebanon defense attorney Jeff Cherry said of the judge's comments. “I have seen him stand up for what is right constitutionally over and over again without regard to race, religion or socio-economic status.

“I have seen him make decisions based on applying all his years of experience to the facts and Constitution."

The Tennessee code of judicial conduct says judges “shall not, in the performance of judicial duties, by words or conduct engage in harassment, including but not limited to bias, prejudice, or harassment based upon race. … A judge who manifests bias or prejudice in a proceeding impairs the fairness of the proceeding and brings the judiciary into disrepute."

Examples of bias described in the rules include “negative stereotyping” and “attempted humor based upon stereotypes.”

Nashville lawyer and professor David Hudson, who teaches at Belmont University and Nashville School of Law, said he was "saddened to hear this occurred."

"Judges have no business making racially charged comments from the bench," Hudson said in an email. "At the very least it sends the appearance that they do not have requisite degree of impartiality to serve in such esteemed positions of trust."

Responding to questions about Barry's remarks, a spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the Courts said the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct handles complaints about judges.

The board can investigate "the physical, mental, or moral fitness of any Tennessee judge; the judge's manner of performance of duty; and the judge's commission of any act that reflects unfavorably upon the judiciary," the spokesperson wrote in an email.

The board reprimanded Memphis Judge Jim Lammey last year for "partisan" social media posts about immigration and Black Lives Matter, among other topics.

A judge in Texas was disciplined under similar rules in 2018 after saying he ran "a redneck court.” An Ohio judge had his law license suspended in 2019 after a court there found he made a series of inflammatory comments, including calling white defendants “crackers” and Latino defendants “homeboys.”

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on Twitter @AndyHumbles.