Judge Joe Brown arrested, charged with contempt of court

This photo provided by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office on Monday, March 24, 2014, shows Judge Joe Brown, who was arrested and charged with five counts of contempt of court in Tennessee. (AP2014)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The star of the television show "Judge Joe Brown" has been arrested and charged with five counts of contempt of court in Tennessee, court officials in Memphis said Monday.

Shelby County Juvenile Court officials said the 66-year-old Brown was sentenced to five days in jail after causing an outburst Monday in a child support hearing. Brown is running in the Democratic primary for Shelby County district attorney general.

Magistrate Judge Harold "Hal" Horne charged the former TV judge with contempt of court, said Dan Michael, chief magistrate judge of the Shelby County Juvenile Court.

"He darn near caused a riot in the courtroom, he had people so inflamed," Michael said of the former TV judge.

Brown could not be reached for comment. Neither jail officials nor juvenile court officials knew whether he had retained a lawyer. WREG-TV was reporting that Brown had been released from jail.

The former TV judge was representing a woman who had been brought in on a warrant in a child support case, Michael said. Brown, he said, was yelling and repeatedly challenging Horne's authority and even addressing his comments to a crowd of people inside the courtroom.

Brown's nationally syndicated TV show was canceled last year.