Topeka ? The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday ousted Saline County District Judge George R. Robertson for viewing Internet pornography on his office computer. He is the third judge removed in the past 30 years since the court began using its present disciplinary system.

Robertson, 56, had been on the bench for 10 years and on administrative leave since June when the Commission on Judicial Qualifications recommended to the court that he be removed for violating the canons of judicial conduct against impropriety and demeaning the integrity and impartiality of the court.

“The most serious aggravating factor is the effect the misconduct had upon the integrity of and respect for the judiciary,” the court wrote.

Justices noted that the canons state that “public trust is essential to an effective judiciary and one judge’s conduct may have a significant impact upon the public’s perception of the entire judicial system. A judge must expect to be the subject of constant public scrutiny.”

A person answering the telephone at Robertson’s home said the judge wasn’t immediately available for comment.

The 28th Judicial District Nominating Commission will interview candidates and submit two or three names to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who will make the appointment. The person selected will serve the remainder of Robertson’s four-year term, which expires in January 2009. To remain on the bench past then, the person must stand for retention in November 2008.

A county computer technician discovered in December that Robertson was viewing pornography on his county-owned computer and reported it to county officials.

Robertson continued to receive full pay since Feb. 9, when he was restricted to administrative duties. His annual salary is $104,522, but other benefits, such as pension contributions and health insurance, push his total compensation to more than $139,000.

Robertson told the commission he spent countless hours as an elder of his church and had spread himself too thin between his judicial work and his church obligations. He has since left his position at the church.

He told the panel that adult Web sites provided a diversion over nine months. Court documents said that Robertson had been treated for depression and received therapy.

Robertson’s attorney told the court last month it should be cautious in removing judges “because doing so disrupts the public’s choice of who should serve in the judiciary.”

Justices agreed to a point.

“The public has also expressed a choice to have a system of discipline which can result in a judge’s removal from office,” the court wrote.

The justices said their decision was based on the fact that Robertson viewed pornographic material for nine months and that the computer was not his personal property and was used inappropriately during official court hours.

Robertson was disciplined in 1997 after placing a probation condition on a juvenile that he not have contact with Hispanic males younger than 21 unless in the company of an adult or unless they were family members. The commission ordered him to stop that practice.

The court was unanimous in its decision. Justice Lawton Nuss, who’s from Salina, didn’t participate because he knows Robertson.