The Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline said Peebles also frequently showed up late and removed and destroyed a court document, then tried to cover it up. The document contained a lawyer’s complaint that Tyler had made a decision about a case while Peebles was on vacation in China.

The members voted 5-1 for Peebles’ removal from office. In March, the Missouri Supreme Court suspended Peebles for six months without pay for engaging in “misconduct.”

The commission’s probe was prompted by a 2011 Post-Dispatch investigation revealing that Tyler handled at least 350 cases while Peebles was on vacation in China. Tyler dismissed five, continued more than 300 and told defense lawyers that there would be no bail reductions while Peebles was away, which potentially meant extra jail time for defendants.

Tyler also decided that as many as 18 arrest warrants should be issued, although Peebles approved and signed them upon her return.

Peebles claimed to prosecutors that she removed the document because it was improperly labeled and filed; a prosecutor told the commission she did not find Peebles credible.