All Entries in the "KY Courts" Category

Legal fight over child abuse death records continues

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A Franklin Circuit judge expects to rule by Tuesday whether a battle over child abuse death records should stay in his court.

Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd said he hoped to have a decision by Tuesday, when the state Court of Appeals is expected to hear motions in the case involving the state’s two largest newspapers and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which oversees child protection.

Shepherd has ruled previously that child protection records are open to the public when a child dies or nearly dies from abuse or neglect. Shepherd said only limited information in those files could be kept secret — such as social security numbers and the names of children who are injured but don’t die.

The state appealed Shepherd’s order to the state Court of Appeals, arguing that more information in those documents should be kept secret under exemptions in the state’s Open Records Act. At the same time, the cabinet has released case files of eight children who were killed or nearly killed as a result of abuse and neglect, but with more redactions than allowed under Shepherd’s previous ruling.

Judge issues restraining order in filing deadline case

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A judge issued an order Tuesday that extended the filing deadline for state legislative candidates by at least a week as he considers a legal challenge of Kentucky’s new legislative district boundaries.

Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd, in a four-page order, said the filing deadline for state House and Senate candidates won’t come before 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 7. It was scheduled for 4 p.m. Jan. 31.

Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said her office will continue to accept nomination papers from candidates for state senator and representative until the new deadline.

Despite the extension, several candidates filed Tuesday for Kentucky’s General Assembly, while two longtime state lawmakers — Sen. Walter Blevins, D-Morehead, and Rep. Lonnie Napier, R-Lancaster — said they have decided not to seek re-election. Their terms will end at the end of this year.

Administrative Office of the Courts to move to old Home Depot building

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The Administrative Office of the Courts will move into a former Home Depot in Frankfort, a move officials say will save the state money over the next decade.

AOC officials said Monday that they plan to sign a lease-to-purchase contract for the Home Depot property on Vandalay Drive in Frankfort, which is off of U.S. 127. The Home Depot has been vacant for several years.

The agency, which oversees administrative and other tasks associated with operating the state’s court system, now pays $1.3 million in rent for seven buildings at Millcreek Park in Frankfort.

By moving to the former Home Depot, the AOC will be able to have all of its 240 employees in one building rather than seven. The courts will use money that it has saved from other sources over the past two years to pay for renovations of the new space, court officials said.

Beshear would spare prisons, not police, prosecutors or courts

By John Cheves – jcheves@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear would spare the state Corrections Department and public defenders in his next two-year budget while further cutting money for prosecutors, the Kentucky State Police and the court system.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Beshear said he’s encouraged by early cost-saving trends from the criminal reforms enacted by the 2011 General Assembly. House Bill 463 was expected to shrink prison and jail populations and save an estimated $42 million a year, in part by shifting non-violent drug offenders into addiction treatment and community supervision.

As a result, the state’s population of incarcerated felons should drop to 19,141 by Fiscal Year 2014 instead of rising to 22,011, Beshear said.

Simultaneously, the state is trying to open hundreds of additional slots in treatment programs to accommodate the new demand.

“We feel good about the implementation of it so far,” Beshear said. “We are on the right path. It will save us money in terms of reducing the number of prisoners incarcerated in our prison system, and I also suspect it will save us money in terms of recidivism.”

Judges say juvenile courts should be open, system in shambles

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Family court judges told a legislative panel Thursday that opening juvenile courts to more public scrutiny will improve Kentucky’s child-protection system.

The judges — who oversee abuse, neglect and other juvenile court proceedings — told the House Health and Welfare Committee that they also support a measure to create an external review panel to examine fatalities and near-fatalities of abused and neglected children.

The judges also told lawmakers that Kentucky’s child-protection system is stretched too thin, with not enough social workers or services to protect vulnerable children. Good child-protection workers are leaving and those that remain are exhausted, said Bullitt County Family Court Judge Elise Givhan Spainhour.

“I had a social worker yesterday break down in tears in the court room because she was operating on four hours of sleep,” Spainhour said.

State courts want $62 million bump in next fiscal year

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Chief Supreme Court Justice John D. Minton told a legislative committee on Friday that the Kentucky’s courts desperately need a new computer system, 25 new staff and three new family court judges.

In total, the courts are asking for an additional $62 million for the next fiscal year, but only about $20 million of that would be for new projects, positions or pay raises. The vast majority of the $62 million is for other increased costs, such as health care and contributions to the retirement system, court officials said Friday.

The legislature will tackle the two-year budget when it reconvenes in January. State leaders have cautioned agencies not to expect much new money during the next two years given that projected revenues are expected to fall several hundred million dollars short of what’s needed to maintain current programs.

Minton said the passage of House Bill 463 earlier this year, which was designed to divert more non-violent, first-time offenders from the state’s prisons and jails, has meant more work for the state’s pretrial officers.

Judge orders state to release records of kids killed by abuse and neglect

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The state must turn over records regarding dozens of abused and neglected children who died while under state supervision, a Franklin Circuit Court judge has ruled for the second time in two years.

Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd said in a ruling Thursday that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services has 10 days to negotiate turning over the documents with the state’s two largest newspapers: the Lexington Herald-Leader and The Courier-Journal of Louisville.

Shepherd said state law dictates that child-protection records are private with one exception — when there is a death or a near-death of a child. The cabinet, however, has repeatedly ignored that exception, Shepherd wrote.

“The Court must conclude that the cabinet is so immersed in the culture of secrecy regarding these issues that it is institutionally incapable of recognizing and implementing the clear requirement of the law,” Shepherd wrote.

Administrator of troubled home pleads guilty to tax, exploitation charges

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The former administrator of a now-shuttered personal care home admitted that he stole $300,000 intended for disabled residents and used some of that money to buy trucks for himself.

James “Chum” Tackett, 69, of Jenkins, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Letcher Circuit Court to theft, exploitation and tax evasion charges. Tackett was expected to go to trial on those charges on Tuesday. As part of his guilty plea, Tackett admitted that he took more than $300,000 from mentally ill and disabled residents at the facility.

Golden Years was shut down by Attorney General Jack Conway’s office and state health authorities this fall because of ongoing concerns about the nonprofit’s financial health and poor living conditions in the Letcher County home.

According to a release from Conway’s office, Tackett admitted that he stole more than $300,000 and used residents’ money to buy a GMC Hummer, a Chevrolet Silverado, a Ford F-150 and a Suzuki XL-7. About $60,000 of the $300,000 was stolen from one Golden Years resident, Conway’s office said.

Supreme Court permanently disbars judge in fen-phen case

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT – The Kentucky Supreme Court has permanently disbarred a former Boone County judge who oversaw a settlement involving the diet drug fen-phen.

The state’s highest court on Thursday also ordered Joseph “Jay” Bamberger to pay $18,700 for the costs of disciplinary proceedings against him.

The Supreme Court followed a unanimous recommendation in June from the Kentucky Bar Association that Bamberger be permanently disbarred for his actions as presiding judge in the highly publicized fen-phen case.

It involved a class action lawsuit filed in 1998 in Boone Circuit Court against American Home Products, manufacturer of fen-phen.

Judge reprimanded for touting U.S. Sen. Paul’s campaign

By Jack Brammer jbrammer@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — A circuit court judge for McCreary and Whitley counties has been publicly reprimanded for sending campaign materials via email to all Kentucky circuit court judges last year touting Republican Rand Paul’s bid for the U.S. Senate. The state Judicial Conduct Commission dismissed two other judicial misconduct charges against Daniel [...]