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Filing period opens for new Family Court judgeships created by legislature; 3 file for NKY’s 54th District


By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today

The filing period opened this week for three new Family Court judgeships created by the 2018 General Assembly and more than a half dozen have already delivered papers to the Secretary of State’s office.


House Bill 348 added the positions due to the heavy caseload levels for the other judges in the circuit.

 


The circuits affected are the 28th, which includes Lincoln, Pulaski, and Rockcastle counties; the 54th, which contains Boone and Gallatin counties; and the 55th Circuit in Bullitt counties.

To pay for the new judgeships, in 2023 a circuit judgeship In Floyd County will be eliminated, a Bullitt County district judge position will be converted to family court and the circuit that now includes Ballard and Carlisle counties will be merged with the one that currently has Fulton and Hickman counties.


The bill also requires a review for possible redistricting purposes every eight years. 
 

As of Friday morning, seven people have filed for the new positions on the bench:


In the 28th Circuit, Jane Adams Venters, the wife of retiring Supreme Court Justice Daniel Venters, was the first person to file in the state.  She has been joined in the race by Melinda Gillum Dalton.  Both candidates live in Somerset.


Three people have filed in the 54th Circuit: Jennifer Dusing of Union and Florence residents Bonnie Rickert and Greta Hoffman Walker.


There was a pair of filings in the 55th Circuit as of Friday morning: Monica Meredith of Mt. Washington and John A. Schmidt of Shepherdsville.


Bradford Queen, spokesman for Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, says the filing deadline for the three judgeships is Aug. 7 and there will be no primary, so all the candidates will appear on the November ballot.
 


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