A Wayne County judge appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer faces a misdemeanor charge after police allege she attempted to board a plane at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport with an unregistered pistol.

Third Circuit Court Judge Cylenthia LaToye Miller was toting a Smith & Wesson .380 pistol in her purse on June 8 when a U.S. Transportation Security Administration agent spotted the gun as it went through an x-ray machine ahead of her flight to LaGuardia Airport, The Detroit News reports.

“(A TSA agent whose name was redacted) checked Ms. Miller’s purse and found a Smith & Wesson, M&P Bodyguard 380,” the officer wrote in a report obtained by the news site. “I cleared the weapon to make it safe. There was a round of ammunition chambered. The firearm was not artfully concealed. I located Ms. Miller’s credentials, ID, driver license and (an item that was redacted.)”

“Ms. Miller told me she had not registered the firearm at this time,” the report read. “Ms. Miller told me her brother lived and purchased the firearm in (a redacted location).”

Whitmer praised Miller “for her extensive legal experience and for serving her community” and predicted she’d “perform her responsibilities with honor and reverence” when she appointed Miller to the 3rd Circuit Court in Wayne County in 2019.

Miller was re-elected to the bench in 2020 for a term that runs through Jan. 1, 2027, according to Ballotpedia.

The family court judge was arrested in Romulus and charged with a misdemeanor for violating a “dangerous weapons” ordinance. She was ordered to contact Romulus’ 34th District Court within 14 days, The News reports.

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“I told Ms. Miller the weapon would be held as evidence until court proceedings concluded,” the TSA agent wrote in the report. “Ms. Miller was advised she would need to provide documentation the weapon was hers. I advised Ms. Miller of the court information, and I released her on scene.”

Miller’s attorney, Todd Perkins, told The News the gun isn’t actually her brother’s, but belongs to a close friend.

Airport passengers can travel with a handgun, but it must be stowed in checked baggage, separate from ammunition in a hard case, and declared during check-in, MLive reports.

Miller’s misdemeanor charge comes with a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

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“TSA may impose civil penalties of up to $14,950 per violation per person,” WJBK reports. “If a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck, they will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges for at least five years.”

The news site reports the Detroit Metro Airport intercepted 96 guns last year, while TSA spokesperson Jessica Mayle told The News agents have intercepted 27 firearms so far in 2024.

The judge’s case is one of several involving local officials who have brought guns into the Metro Airport in over the years.

Others have included former Detroit Police Chief Jerry Oliver, former Inkster Chief Judge Sylvia James, and former Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Henry Saad.

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Oliver resigned in 2003, pleaded no contest to possessing an unlicensed handgun, and paid a total of $550 in fines, which included $300 to the TSA. James was not charged in her 2007 incident because prosecutors alleged they could not prove she intentionally brought the firearm into the airport, The News reports.

Saad pleaded guilty to brining a gun into the airport in 2016 and was fined $750, according to the news site.