ALFRED — York County Judge of Probate Robert M.A. Nadeau, facing a civil lawsuit and judicial scrutiny, says he may resign his elected position – but only on his own terms.

He said he’ll consider resigning if York County Commissioners agree to fund the probate judge’s position on a full- time basis.

Nadeau made his initial pronouncement following denial of motions Tuesday in a civil case brought by a New Hampshire grandmother in November. In the class action suit, Renee LeGrand claims changes that Nadeau made to his part-time schedule resulted in the loss of temporary custody of her granddaughter.

Nadeau had filed motions seeking dismissal of the case, claiming immunity as a judge. He also asked for a ruling that York County government pay for an attorney to represent him in the case.; Nadeau is currently representing himself.

Cumberland County Superior Court Justice Thomas Warren denied the motions on Tuesday.

This morning, Nadeau confirmed he made the resignation comment following Tuesday’s hearing. He laid out his terms in an email sent Tuesday evening to county attorney Gene Libby and lawyers involved in the civil case, which he also emailed to the Journal Tribune.

“I will consider resigning from my office as I indicated to Justice Warren this afternoon so that you can install a replacement Independent candidate of your liking,” he said in the email, “if but only if the Commissioners will first agree to fund the new judge’s position as a full-time position with comprehensive legal defense insurance coverage as to any form of administrative and litigation claim filed against him/her whenever it may be needed, consistent with the level of funding of state court judges and with the actual needs of the York Probate Court, and with the understanding that the county and its manager will support, not any longer oppose, the judge’s canonized and statutory duties to supervise the work of the probate register and staff and his associated directives.”

“If my resignation is what it will take to convince you (Libby) and the Commissioners to properly and adequately fund the needs of the families, children, adult incapacitated and other persons dependent upon an overburdened York County Probate Court for service and to properly support the county’s probate judge, whomever he or she may be, then that is what I am willing to do,” he further wrote.

In the email, Nadeau also said he has contacted York County Register of Probate Carol Lovejoy about the feasibility and potential timetable of him returning to his former schedule. He described Lovejoy as “uninformed” and “self serving,” and said he will support her opponent in her upcoming bid for re-election. Lovejoy has worked for the Registry of Probate for 35 years; 12 as register.

In Maine, probate judges are elected and typically hold court on a part-time basis. Many probate judges also maintain private law practices.

Nadeau earns about $54,000 annually as a part-time probate judge. He holds court two days a week, or 64 hours a month. He has previously said he regularly spends 90 hours a month dealing with probate work, but is only paid for 64 hours.

Nadeau changed his schedule from holding court on Wednesdays and Thursdays to Mondays and Fridays in April, hours after York County Commissioners denied his request for a $90,000 salary and a three-day-per-week schedule, or $120,000 for five days a week.

Commissioners claim Nadeau changed his schedule in retaliation for their denial of his request, and held a hearing to that effect in October. The matter is also under scrutiny by the Maine Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability following a complaint to that agency by the county.

County Manager Greg Zinser said this morning that Nadeau’s indication that he might resign is “nothing new.”

“The judge is recognizing his actions have consequences, and his motions and posturing do not have the merit he thinks they do,” said Zinser. “What we’re seeing with this latest offer is simply more games. It is the action of an individual trying to figure it out as he goes along. This is nothing new.”

Nadeau served as the county’s probate judge from about 1997 to 2008. He lost the 2008 election, but was elected in November 2012 for a four-year term that began in January 2013.

Nadeau is awaiting a decision from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on different charges brought by the Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability. Those charges allege that Nadeau violated five provisions of the judicial code, including compromising the integrity of the judiciary and demeaning a district court judge. Oral arguments in that case were heard Nov. 4.

Nadeau has a history of being rebuked by the courts.

Nadeau was censured by the Maine Supreme Judicial for misrepresenting the contents of a videotaped advertisement involving his opponent in the 2004 primary.

In 2006, in a case heard by the Board of Overseers of the Bar, he was reprimanded in connection with his private law practice for a critical letter he wrote to a Superior Court justice who had declined to seal records in a civil suit filed by his former law practice colleagues, and for continuing to send correspondence to them. A third charge of having an intimate relationship with a client was dismissed with a warning.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.