Kentucky Law Review

COURTS: Judge Willett named chief judge, chief regional judge for Jefferson County Circuit Court

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Barry Willett was recently named the chief judge of Jefferson County Circuit Court and the chief regional circuit judge for the Metro Region, which is comprised of Jefferson County. 

Judge Willett was elected by his fellow Jefferson County circuit judges to serve as their chief judge. Chief Justice of Kentucky John D. Minton Jr. appointed him as the chief regional circuit judge. His two-year term for each position began Jan. 1 and continues through Dec. 31, 2011.

Chief judges and chief regional judges supervise the administrative business of the courts in their assigned area and provide general direction and supervision to the nonjudicial personnel assigned to those courts. Judge Willett is responsible for assigning cases randomly to the circuit judges and evenly distributing the workload to the judges, assigning special judges in cases of conflicts or vacancies, being a liaison between the court and other government and civic agencies, providing an orientation program for new judges and preparing proposed local court rules, among other duties. Judge Willett may serve in the absence of any Jefferson County circuit judge. 

There are 13 circuit judges serving Jefferson County not including those in the Family Court Division, who have their own chief judge. 

One judge is always both the chief judge of Jefferson County Circuit Court and the chief regional circuit judge for the Metro Region since each position covers Jefferson County.

Judge Willett’s judicial career began in 2000 when he was elected to the Jefferson County Circuit Court bench. Prior to his election, the Louisville native practiced law, specializing in complex tort and commercial litigation. Judge Willett earned his juris doctor at the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky. He has served as a special justice on the Supreme Court of Kentucky and is a past president of the Kentucky Academy of Trial Attorneys. He is a frequent speaker in continuing legal/judicial education programs.

Judge Willett succeeds Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge James M. Shake as the chief circuit judge and chief regional circuit judge for Jefferson County.

Family Court Judge Patricia Walker FitzGerald serves as chief judge of the Family Division of Jefferson County Circuit Court. District Court Judge Sean R. Delahanty is the chief district judge for Jefferson County District Court and the chief regional district judge for the Metro Region. Their terms began in 2009 and continue through Dec. 31, 2010.

AOC: Courthouse construction under Lambert's tenure and a build now pay later is financially squeezing the courts and the counties per Lexington Herald Leader editorial

Courthouse construction and alleged excesses portrayed in following editorial from the Lexington Herald Leader.  Ouch as the financial bird that flew the coop this past decade under the tenure of former Chief Justice Lambert has come home to roost on Chief Justice Minton in a financial quagmire not of his own making but the repercussions are now being felt during his watch.

Spending spree hits bottom line
Lexington Herald Leader
When it comes to building courthouses, Kentucky is the state that just can't say no.

As a result of those easy ways, as the Herald-Leader's Linda Blackford recently reported, legislators and judicial officials are more preoccupied with balancing budgets than the scales of justice.

It's a sad story of collective self-indulgence. Kentucky's current fiscal crisis can be chalked up to many factors but one — amply demonstrated in the courthouse disaster — is garnering political favor by scattering building projects around the state with the idea that the bill will come due later.

Here's the back story: Former Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert embarked on a campaign to replace county courthouses in all of Kentucky's 120 counties. It's kind of a build-now-pay-later deal with the bonds for the new buildings only coming due when they are close to being complete and occupied. That can make it easy to approve projects (no impact in this fiscal year) and hard to pay for them.

This year, it's particularly hard to pay for them as the governor and legislature struggle to fill a gaping hole in the state budget.

So, with $880 million already poured into the courthouses, judicial officials are asking for another $76 million to meet the new debt payments and avoid massive layoffs throughout the state court system. The system, which laid off 47 people last fall, will struggle to keep the doors open every day without the infusion of new money.

It's an impossible choice: Squeeze overburdened courts even further, effectively removing access to justice for some Kentuckians; or take the money from threatened critical services like education, social services and public protection.

Or, stick the counties with the debt, a move that would likely push some of them into bankruptcy.

The answer isn't to stop all building projects or to build only those that can be paid out of current funds. Building projects that will serve the public for decades should reasonably be paid for over the longer term.

The trouble is that it's just too easy to scatter pork in the form of questionable building projects around the state and pass the bill on to future taxpayers.

Chief Justice Joseph Minton, who inherited this mess from his successor, has tried to put the brakes to the runaway building. In the last budget cycle, the Administrative Office of the Courts, which Minton directs, recommended only one new courthouse — for Carlisle County where the previous one had burned.

Legislators, though, added four more in Allen, Bracken, Lawrence and Morgan counties. The economic and judicial logic may have been blurry but the political logic was crystal clear: "If people from around the state are going to get one, my folks deserve one, too," said Rep. Mike Denham, D-Maysville, who represents Bracken County.

So the debt grows and where it ends no one knows.

COURTHOUSES: New Pike County Courthouse spotlighted in W.Va. Newspaper

From the Williamson Daily News on the new Pike County Courthouse and property formerly owned by Justice Will T. Scott:

Making way for progress?
Williamson Daily News
Some of the controversy surrounding the new courthouse is centered on the site on which it will be built. That property is owned by Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott. The planned site takes up roughly 60,000 square feet of land and includes nine properties.

PIKEVILLE, KY – The wrecking ball is swinging to make room for a new Judicial Center in Pikeville, with construction set to begin despite criticism from several directions.

Second Street in Pikeville will be closed from Pike Street to Division Street Monday, Feb. 15, to all vehicle and pedestrian traffic due to the demolition. Pike Street will remain open and Second Street can still be accessed from Division Street. If demolition is not finished Monday, the street will remain closed Wednesday, Feb. 16.

The new courthouse is one of 70 in the commonwealth that have been authorized, begun construction or completed since 1998. Pike County’s new facility will replace the current Hall of Justice, which was built in 1992 at a cost of $7.3 million. The budget for the new 94,900 square foot building has been set at $28.4 million.

Some of the controversy surrounding the new courthouse is centered on the site on which it will be built. That property is owned by Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott. The planned site takes up roughly 60,000 square feet of land and includes nine properties. Buildings on the block included the Pinson Hotel, Weddington Theater, Raccoon Auto sales, Pike County Artisan Center, law offices and a dry cleaner. Although the county has offered to buy the property, Scott has said he does not want to sell the properties, which means there is no conflict of interest.

Another issue is the preservation of the historic integrity of the city. Some of the buildings demolished for the new courthouse were considered historic, which has made the project controversial in Pikeville. At least one of them dates from the 1880s.

Paying for the building (BOX?)

The procedure for putting funding in place for projects in Kentucky starts each budget session, when the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) presents the General Assembly with a list of projects. The projects are chosen in order of need. The AOC sets guidelines for the buildings. With formulas that use population projections and court docket sizes, the office decides how big every courtroom, office and lobby should be and how much it should cost to build them. New justice centers must have at least on circuit courtroom, a district courtroom and a family courtroom.

The Kentucky General Assembly authorized building a new Pike County Judicial Center in 2006 and approved its funding in 2008.

Once approved, the county then floats bond issues for the amount approved for the new building. The AOC then pays the annual debt service on those bonds. The AOC pays the county rent for its employees to use the building, and that money is used to pay off the debt. When the debt is paid off, the county owns the building.

The AOC pays for utilities and operations of the building.

For the final $28,413,000 price tag for Pike County’s new courthouse, the annual rent will be $2,545,000, or $433 per county resident. Size of the building has been broken down to 1.4 square feet for each person in Pike County.

OLD COURTHOUSE RELATIVELY NEW

The age of the old courthouse, the Hall of Justice, has another point of contention in the plans for the new building. Former governor Paul Patton was Pike County Judge Executive when the old courthouse was built in 1992. In 2008, Patton said the old building was under funded when it was built, causing the current need for a new facility, that the budget was not sufficient to pay for a HVAC unit, much less an entire courthouse. He said the new courthouse would be “Structurally sound enough to last 100 years.”

* * *

There are judicial centers under various stages of development throughout Kentucky. Each Judicial Center Project page will provide expenditure reports, Project Development Board meeting minutes and schedules, photos and other information so that you can track the progress on new judicial centers. The Judicial Center Project pages are under construction and information will be added as it becomes available. The information is online at courts.ky.gov/courthousegalleries.

AOC: "Bust of McAnulty unveiled Thursday" from BG Politics Blog

From Bluegrass Politics Blog at Herald Leader:

Bust of McAnulty unveiled Thursday

By Beth Musgrave on Steve Beshear

By Beth Musgrave - bmusgrave@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — A bust of the state’s first black Supreme Court justice was unveiled Thursday as part of a Black History Month celebration. The bust of the late Justice William E. McAnulty is the first sculpture of a black public official in the Kentucky Capitol. The sculpture will be housed on the second floor in the entryway to the Supreme Court chambers. Gov. Steve Beshear, legislative leaders and Chief Supreme Court Justice John D. Minton paid tribute to McAnulty during a Capitol Rotunda ceremony. The Louisville lawyer became the state’s first black judge on the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1988 and was the first black person to serve on the state’s highest court when he was appointed to an open position in June 2006. He was later elected to the seat for a full-eight year term but died from cancer in 2007.

AOC: Justice McAnulty bust to be unveiled Feb. 11 as part of Black History Month celebration Chief Justice Minton, Gov. Beshear to be among speakers at Capitol

 
FRANKFORT, Ky., Feb. 8, 2010 – A bust of Justice William E. McAnulty Jr. will be unveiled Thursday, Feb. 11, as part of a tribute to the late justice during the Black History Month program at the Capitol in Frankfort. The event will take place at noon in the Capitol Rotunda and is open to the public.

Justice McAnulty was the first black justice to serve on the Supreme Court of Kentucky. He passed away Aug. 23, 2007, after a courageous battle with cancer.

The Kentucky Black Legislative Caucus is hosting the Black History Month program, titled History in the Making. 

Chief Justice of Kentucky John D. Minton Jr. will begin the tribute to Justice McAnulty. Justice McAnulty’s daughter Katheryn and former Justice Martin E. Johnstone will also speak about the late justice. His sister, the Rev. Jean Smith, will conclude the program with the benediction.

Louisville sculptor Ed Hamilton, the award-winning artist who created the Justice McAnulty bust, will unveil the piece. The bust will be located in the vestibule of the Supreme Court Courtroom following the unveiling.

J. Blaine Hudson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Louisville and a professor in the Pan-African Studies Department, will be among the key speakers at the Black History Month program. Other speakers will include Gov. Steve Beshear, Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, Senate President David Williams, House Speaker Greg Stumbo and members of the Kentucky Black Legislative Caucus.

Black History Month is celebrated each February to remember the contributions of black Americans in the United States. The observance began in 1926 when Carter G. Woodson established Negro History Week. The weeklong celebration was expanded to a month in 1976. 

Justice McAnulty
Justice McAnulty was elected to the state’s highest court in November 2006 to represent the 4th Supreme Court District, which consists of Jefferson County. He had been appointed to the Supreme Court bench on June 28, 2006, to fill the position vacated by retiring Justice Johnstone.

Justice McAnulty served at all four levels of the state court system. He began his judicial career as a Jefferson County Juvenile Court judge in 1975. He was elected to Jefferson District Court in November 1977, where he served until his election to Jefferson Circuit Court in November 1983. He briefly returned to private practice in January 1990 as a partner in a law firm and then returned to the Circuit Court in 1993. In 1998, he served as chief judge of the Jefferson Circuit Court until he was elected to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in November 1998 to represent the 4th Appellate District. He came to the Supreme Court from the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 2006.

In 1997, the Kentucky Academy of Trial Attorneys named Justice McAnulty the Henry V. Pennington Outstanding Judge of the Year and the Leadership Louisville Foundation presented him with its Thomas C. Simons Distinguished Leadership Award.

AOC: Courthouse construction program creating financial crisis in courts; $76 million increase in funding needed to continue to enable courts to stay open 5 days a week, 52 weeks per year per AOC Director

Kentucky.com story on budget woes of AOC and financial strain created by courthouse construction initiative in the face of a weakening economy.  

State struggles to pay for new courthouses
By Linda B. Blackford - lblackford@herald-leader.com

The state court system laid off 47 people last fall, and judicial officials say they're looking at even more drastic measures in the upcoming budget cycle.

If the courts don't get a $76 million increase in funding, "we will have to see whether we can operate five days a week, 52 weeks a year," said Laurie Dudgeon, director of the Administration Office of the Courts.

Even though most other state agencies face cuts, Gov. Steve Beshear has recommended an extra $50 million from the General Fund for the courts, both to make up for past budget cuts and to pay for new courthouses that will be opening in the next two years.

Most of that money will be used for 38 new courthouses that will open over the next two years. That means the state has to start paying off the bonds used for construction.

Since 2000, $880 million has been appropriated for new courthouses that are part of a program designed by former Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert that was aimed at putting a new courthouse in all 120 counties.

The state must start paying for the courthouses, or the counties will default on the bonds. So the court system's budget will have to be cut in other areas. But the judicial branch's financial conundrum — in the midst of one of Kentucky's worst fiscal crises ever — is raising questions about the politically popular but expensive courthouse construction program.

"I am very supportive of our courthouse project, but on a statewide basis, there wasn't a lot of thought given to how this money would be paid back," said Fleming County Judge Executive Larry Foxworthy.

Fleming County floated $11.5 million in bonds to build its new courthouse.

"It will be a big asset to us, but things could have been done to save more money," Foxworthy said. "These questions needed to be asked before the General Assembly obligated the state to this kind of payback."

Shelby County also floated bonds for its new courthouse, $18.4 million worth.

"In my opinion, the entire program was way too aggressive," said Shelby Judge Executive Rob Rothenburger. "Based on all the projected revenues, the AOC should have slowed down with these projects. I would have looked at what we could have done to renovate more courthouses."

click on heading above for remainder of story

STATE: Some press releases from Kentucky

Judge Willett named chief judge, chief regional judge for Jefferson County Circuit Court

National Report Gives Kentucky High Marks for Outcomes in Child Welfare and Public Assistance; Council of State Governments study indicates children in foster care are safe

Attorney General Conway Announces Availability of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Grant

Two Community Presence Caregivers Sentenced For Abusing A Patient

Beshear budget proposal spares education and health care priorities with no tax increases and limited cuts

Attorney General Conway Announces Indictment against Former Lewis County Clerk

Governor Beshear welcomes Judicial Branch to Kentucky’s Open Door site

Former Madison Manor Nurse’s Aide Pleads Guilty to Abuse of a Patient

COURTS: "State courts system putting expense data online"

FROM Herald Leader's Bluegrass Politics Blog:

State courts system putting expense data online

By Government Editor on State Government

The state judicial system will start putting its contracts and expenditures on a government web site aimed at opening state government to public scrutiny. Gov. Steve Beshear and state Supreme Court Justice John D. Minton announced Tuesday that financial records and contracts of the Administrative Office of the Courts will be available at www.OpenDoor.KY.gov. The site also shows information from all constitutional offices, the executive branch, all competitive contracts awarded by the state and state employee salaries. Meanwhile, a bill proposed by state Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, would require the AOC, the legislature and the executive branch of state government to make information about all expenditures available online. Senate Bill 40 awaits action by the Senate State and Local Government Committee. - Linda Blackford

AOC announces changes to service providing criminal record reports

• AOC announces changes to service providing criminal record reports
  Tuesday, January 05, 2010
  The Administrative Office of the Courts is making changes to its service that provides criminal background reports. A fee increase and a new online service will be effective Jan. 19, 2010.

Open Door and the Judicial Cabinet's Legal Expenses

This past week I received an email annoucing the judiciary's participation in the open government portal documenting various expenses of the three branches of government.

I was curious how the data base worked and what kind of information was available.  So, I wondered how much our judiciary (which has a lot of lawyers in its employ) paid to outside counsel to do their legal work.  I was suprised at how much the state has a whole paid for outside legal services, and the Judicial Cabinet in particular (which is somewhat lower than I had expected).  Considering that many of these counsel may well appear in cases before the various courts of the Commonwealth, to include the Supreme Court of Kentucky and the Court of Appeals some opposing counsel in disputes might want to know who the state is hiring and whether or not that might pose a potential conflict in particular cases depending on the issues involved.

For example,  Judicial Cabinet spent over $444,000 for legal expenses to outside counsel in 2009, and are up to $215,496 for 2010.  Of course, be careful on your search criteria and codes as a few of my searches did not produce the expected results.  Also, the site is not too forgiving as a return to prior window does not reproduce the prior search information.

Below are the legal expenses from 1099's for the state as a whole and the judicial department in particular:

2010

• State: $6,905,310.18
• Judicial Cabinet:  $215,496.50

2009

• State: $14,755,698.98
• Judicial Cabinet: $444,309.19

2008

• State: $15,479,284.47
• Judicial Cabinet:  $211,465.97

2007

• State: $12,702,399.71
• Judicial Cabinet:  $199,503.97

Just to see how the data base worked, I followed one of the firms - Graydon Head & Richey for 2009 and 2010.   Graydon Head & Richey has billed the state in 1099 reports for legal services provided in the amount of $249,259.08 (which crosses into two fiscal years but a single calendar year).  For fiscal year 2010, their legal fees billed to the Judicial Cabinet was $108,805.59 of the total $215,496.50.

When I clicked on the link, this is the table that was produced:

Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	Transportation Cabinet	Department Of Highways	Pro Contract (Inc Per Serv)	Legal Services-1099 Rept	Jan 12, 2007	$1,500.00
Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	Transportation Cabinet	Office Of Legal Services	Pro Contract (Inc Per Serv)	Legal Services-1099 Rept	Apr 12, 2007	$1,708.10
Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	Judicial Cabinet	Judicial Department	Pro Contract (Inc Per Serv)	Legal Services-1099 Rept	May 11, 2009	$82,779.56
Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	Judicial Cabinet	Judicial Department	Pro Contract (Inc Per Serv)	Legal Services-1099 Rept	May 27, 2009	$32,625.11
Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	Judicial Cabinet	Judicial Department	Pro Contract (Inc Per Serv)	Legal Services-1099 Rept	Jun 30, 2009	$25,048.82
Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	Judicial Cabinet	Judicial Department	Pro Contract (Inc Per Serv)	Legal Services-1099 Rept	Jul 30, 2009	$40,145.29
Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	Judicial Cabinet	Judicial Department	Pro Contract (Inc Per Serv)	Legal Services-1099 Rept	Sep 16, 2009	$43,283.38
Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	Judicial Cabinet	Judicial Department	Pro Contract (Inc Per Serv)	Legal Services-1099 Rept	Nov 06, 2009	$25,376.92
					Grand Total:	$252,467.18

I then did a search using Google (tm) to locate what the firm may have been doing for the Judicial Cabinet and whether or not it was newsworthy.  Turns out I had forgotten, that Attorney William G. Giesen with Graydon Head & Richey was the attorney hired by the AOC to carry out an intensive review of courthouse construction projects bonding issues. See, eg., COURTS: AOC Courthouse Construction Program Under In-House Audit by CJ Minton; others wanted state auditor Luallen.

Here is a list of those with 1099's with the Judicial Cabinet for 2010:

Dec 15, 2009	MCBRAYER MCGINNIS LESLIE AND KIRKLAND	MCBRAYER MCGINNIS LESLIE AND KIRKLAND	$7,997.13
Dec 15, 2009	WOLNITZEK ROWEKAMP	WOLNITZEK ROWEKAMP	$13.46
Dec 04, 2009	LOGAN AND GAINES	LOGAN AND GAINES	$3,200.90
Nov 24, 2009	MCBRAYER MCGINNIS LESLIE AND KIRKLAND	MCBRAYER MCGINNIS LESLIE AND KIRKLAND	$2,986.40
Nov 12, 2009	WOLNITZEK ROWEKAMP	WOLNITZEK ROWEKAMP	$92.44
Nov 06, 2009	Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP	Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP	$29,650.30
Nov 06, 2009	Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	$25,376.92
Nov 06, 2009	FULTZ MADDOX HOVIOUS & DICKENS PLC	FULTZ MADDOX HOVIOUS & DICKENS PLC	$5,971.34
Nov 06, 2009	LOGAN AND GAINES	LOGAN AND GAINES	$225.00
Sep 28, 2009	DINSMORE & SHOHL LLP	DINSMORE & SHOHL LLP	$19,839.86
Sep 23, 2009	STEPHEN D WOLNITZEK	STEPHEN D WOLNITZEK	$50.14
Sep 16, 2009	Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	$43,283.38
Sep 16, 2009	LOGAN AND GAINES	LOGAN AND GAINES	$187.50
Sep 16, 2009	PARKER & O'CONNELL	PARKER & O'CONNELL	$5,830.25
Aug 31, 2009	FULTZ MADDOX HOVIOUS & DICKENS PLC	FULTZ MADDOX HOVIOUS & DICKENS PLC	$2,320.28
Aug 26, 2009	Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP	Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP	$5,595.10
Aug 12, 2009	LOGAN AND GAINES	LOGAN AND GAINES	$50.00
Aug 05, 2009	FULTZ MADDOX HOVIOUS & DICKENS PLC	FULTZ MADDOX HOVIOUS & DICKENS PLC	$150.56
Jul 30, 2009	Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP	$40,145.29
Jul 29, 2009	WYATT TARRANT AND COMBS	WYATT TARRANT AND COMBS	$122.47
Jul 16, 2009	STEPHEN D WOLNITZEK	STEPHEN D WOLNITZEK	$23.33
Jul 09, 2009	LOGAN AND GAINES	LOGAN AND GAINES	$938.00
Jul 06, 2009	Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP	Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP	$2,890.20