BATON ROUGE - First Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Hunter Greene traveled to Destin, Florida, over the past two years for his continuing legal education and billed taxpayers thousands of dollars to stay in a high-rise condo he and his family own there, documents obtained by the WAFB I-TEAM show.

While the judge is not accused of doing anything illegal, one watchdog we spoke to says this does not pass the smell test. Rental listings in Florida indicate the condo that the judge owns is not rented out to the public. The management company that rents out units there also verified that the unit is not for rent. The judge’s stays were documented by expense reports he submitted to the First Circuit Court of Appeal for reimbursement. For the stay in the condo, Greene and his wife wrote checks to BG Retreat LLC in 2023 and 2024, according to public records requested by the WAFB I-TEAM. In 2023, a check was written for $1,400 to their LLC and signed by Greene’s wife, Emily. In 2024, a check was written for $2,800 to their LLC and signed by Judge Greene. The judge then turned around and submitted expense reports so that he could be reimbursed for those amounts.

Judge Hunter Greene billed taxpayers thousands to stay in his own Destin condo while attending legal education events, records obtained by WAFB I-TEAM show.

After one of those two bookings, the LLC he owns even sent the judge an email telling him to “Enjoy!” his stay there.

“This is problematic because clearly this is a case where a judge is using public money to benefit himself,” Dr. Robert Collins, Public Policy Professor at Dillard University, said. “He is using public money to pay for an LLC that he owns and, in doing so, is basically enriching himself.”

Louisiana Business Filings indicate Hunter Greene has owned BG Retreat since February 2018. In the documents submitted for reimbursement, Greene made no mention of his close connection to the LLC.

“That’s a transparency issue,” Collins said. “You can’t have that in a civil law-abiding society.”

For months, we’ve been combing through judicial expense records to see what judges have been spending your tax money on. The I-TEAM found some judges were billing for mileage to second jobs, fancy hotel stays, and for miscellaneous items in their office, like artwork. Much of that is considered an approved expense, but Collins believes Greene may have crossed the line by staying in his own condo and billing taxpayers for it.

“This does cause the appearance of impropriety, simply because the average citizen or taxpayer would not be able to do this in their own business, personal life, or job,” Collins said. “Every job I’m aware of, if you have to travel for business, they would prohibit you from taking company money and using it to pay an LLC you own.”

WAFB requested an interview with Judge Greene, but he emailed a statement instead.

“It is my understanding that you have reviewed some expenses incurred related to continuing legal education conferences which I have attended,” Greene said. “At the outset, let me say I appreciate your work to report information to the public in a respectful, fair, and balanced manner; accordingly, I thank you for allowing me to respond. Concerning the 2023 and 2024 Summer School Legal Education Conferences sponsored by the Louisiana State Bar Association and the Louisiana Judicial College, I attended these conferences and earned Continuing Legal Education credits as provided in the course material. As for the expenses incurred while attending these conferences, I followed Louisiana law and applicable Court rules.”

He did not reply when asked if he also stayed at the condo, and filed expense reports for it while he was serving as an EBR Family Court Judge.