A former Carroll County judge has had his law license suspended by the Missouri Supreme Court.

The top court issued an order Tuesday, June 2 that the license of Joe Don McGaugh be suspended, three months after McGaugh agreed to retire from the bench. The order cited Court Rule 5.23(a), where the Chief Disciplinary Counsel can make a determination that a lawyer is incapacitated or disabled and no longer able to practice law. McGaugh had been suspended from the bench in March 2025 after the Supreme Court ruled that he had acted incompetently by failing to deliver judgments in a timely manner, and on multiple occasions failed to timely and accurately submit a list of cases under advisement for more than 90 days.

McGaugh initially admitted to the allegations made against him, but sought a suspension of three months under disability. The court denied his request in 2025, suspending him for a year despite the Commission on the Retirement, Removal and Discipline of Judges recommending a six-month suspension. The court agreed with the commission’s finding last February that McGaugh be retired from the bench, citing mental infirmity.

McGaugh had been appointed in October 2017 to serve as an associate circuit judge, as he was in the middle of his third term representing Carroll County in the Missouri House of Representatives.