J. Kent Adams, a Harris County justice of the peace in Spring, has been admonished for inappropriate comments made from the bench and to lawyers in his chambers, including a 2011 incident in which he asked a black mother "if she was on welfare and expected the government to pay her fine."

According to the public condemnation by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Adams also asked a Hispanic parent, "if she had six or seven kids," and told a Pakistani parent her son should be "stoned to death."

An admonishment is the lowest form of public punishment the commission can levy. The commission can offer reprimands and censures, and suspend judges in some cases.

Adams has been the Precinct 4 Place 1 justice of the peace since 2001 and faces a challenger in next month's Republican primary.