ALBANY - A Cortland County town justice should be removed from the bench for meeting defendants outside court, failing to tell prosecutors about those meetings and then lying to investigators about them, a state panel overseeing judges said Wednesday.

The state Commission on Judicial Conduct said Cuyler Town Court Justice Jean Marshall dismissed four local code violations after having out-of-court conversations with the defendants and without telling prosecutors.

After the investigation into Marshall's action began, she tried to hide her conduct by altering her court calendar and writing over the original entries.

She also lied when testifying, the commission determined.

Marshall's conduct “violated well-established ethical standards and demonstrates convincingly that she is unfit to serve as a judge,” the commission said.

Marshall could not be immediately reached for comment. Her lawyer, Lawrence Knickerbocker, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Commission Chairman Raoul Felder said Marshall, who is not a lawyer, had a “shaky grasp of the rules” governing communications outside of court and “clearly fails to understand that before granting any application for an adjournment, she generally should hear from the other side.”

Last year, Court of Appeals Chief Judge Judith Kaye proposed numerous reforms to improve local justice courts, including more training and supervision of judges. Marshall's conduct, Felder said, “underscores the need for greater training and other reforms.”

While part of the state court system, the justice courts are funded and administered by their respective towns and villages.

They collected more than $210 million last year in fines, fees and surcharges. They handle criminal and civil cases, including felony arraignments. Some 72 percent of 2,000 justices are not lawyers. The state constitution does not require it. Marshall could appeal the commission's decision to the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court.