Clerk of troubled court transferred - Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston

There's a major personnel move at a Boston court house that's been the subject of mismanagement complaints, and FOX Undercover reports, for years.

The clerk magistrate of Roxbury District Court, Michael Neighbors, has been at the center of many of those complaints, some of which have been made by judges serving the court. Judges' complaints are on top of a series of FOX Undercover reports on the court, including the first in 2008 that found Neighbors was being given full-time pay despite being a virtual no-show at the office.

Last Thursday FOX Undercover reported that a court error left a woman in fear for her life after a police department wasn't notified about a harassment prevention order she had obtained from a judge at Roxbury District Court.

Just a day after that story aired, Neighbors was re-assigned to Suffolk Superior Court for at least several weeks.

It's a highly unusual move considering that Neighbors isn't just any court employee.

Like other district court clerk magistrates, Neighbors was tapped by the governor to run a specific clerk's office -- not someone who is normally transferred. Neighbors was nominated by former Gov. Paul Cellucci and approved by the Governor's Council.

Maura Hennigan, the Suffolk Superior Court Clerk, told FOX Undercover that Neighbors is filling a position left empty when another clerk was transferred to Roxbury District Court to try and clean things up. Hennigan says she was told by a judge late Friday afternoon that Neighbors was the one who would be filling in while assistant clerk William K. Walsh works in Roxbury.

Though the choice to have Neighbors transferred to Suffolk Superior Court wasn't hers, Hennigan added that she expects Neighbors to put in a full day's work while there.
A message left for Neighbors seeking comment wasn't returned.