SAN FRANCISCO - A Placer County judge who was censured for grabbing his bailiff's breasts has returned to the bench after an extended medical leave, shortly after his request for disability retirement was denied.

Superior Court Judge W. Jackson Willoughby III ended his nine-month absence when he assumed a new assignment in the Roseville traffic court on Monday but announced plans to retire in February.

Saying he "absolutely loves" being back on the bench, he said "I intend to do my best until I leave because I enjoy being a judge."

Willoughby, 65, was the presiding judge when he inappropriately touched a deputy while they were in his chambers in May 1998.  Other offensive workplace conduct included referring to a female deputy district attorney as "Old Iron Tits," according to a report by the State Commission on Judicial Performance.

The Commission on Judicial Performance censured Willoughby last summer for the improper behavior but spared him his job.

Shortly after the accusations surfaced in June 1998, Willoughby was banished from local courtrooms and spent the next two years drawing his full $117,912 annual salary and waiting for an assignment that never came.

Last July, he was assigned to a little-used storefront court in rural Lincoln, where he processed probation violations and search warrants.  Willoughby worked there less than two weeks before going on medical leave, saying the situation created a "hostile environment."  He then applied for disability retirement, which the commission denied last week.

The agency came under fire over the last year for approving disability retirements for scofflaw judges who applied for the benefit after getting into trouble.  Judges who are granted disability retirement usually receive 65 percent of their judicial salary for the rest of their lives.

Barry Zimmerman, an Auburn attorney and Placer County Bar Association president who was involved in an effort to recall Willoughby, said, "I was pleased Judge Willoughby was denied disability retirement in light of the fact it's an outgrowth of his own misconduct."

Noting that Willoughby has been "outposted" to traffic court, Zimmerman said, "People still want him to go, but he's deflected the recall momentum by saying, "I'll just be here for a short time."  It will save the time, expense and effort of getting him recalled."

Still, he predicted, there will be a "huge public outcry" if Willoughby doesn't leave as promised.

Judge Larry D. Gaddis, one of 10 Placer County jurists who signed a statement last summer urging Willoughby to step down, said the local bench voted to assign Willoughby to traffic court.

"He's collecting a full salary, so we just have to make the best of it," Gaddis said.  "We thought long and hard about how to assign him."

When asked how women court employees feel about Willoughby's return, one clerk who declined to be identified said only, "You can probably imagine."

In addition to getting his full salary during almost three years of inactivity, two sexual harassment lawsuits filed by Willoughby's bailiff and clerk have cost the county and the state $170,000 in settlements.

When told that some colleagues and attorneys reported they were unhappy to have him back, Willoughby replied, "They can say what they want, and I'll be out of here next February."