Contentious Central KY judicial race features candidate married to prosecutor
A contentious race for a circuit court judgeship that includes Scott, Woodford and Bourbon counties has largely centered around one candidate’s ability to do the job.
The race pits Rob Johnson, who is an assistant commonwealth attorney in wife Sharon Muse Johnson’s commonwealth attorney’s office, against Katie Gabhart, the former head of the Executive Branch Ethics Commission, who was appointed to the judicial seat by Gov. Andy Beshear after former Circuit Court Judge Brian Privett resigned.
To avoid appearances of impropriety given that he’s running for judge in the court where his wife is the lead prosecutor, Johnson has said if he’s elected, he will not hear any criminal cases.
Meanwhile, Johnson said Gabhart does not have enough trial experience to do the job.
Gabhart minces no words when talking about her opponent.
His conflict renders him incapable of doing the full job, she said. She’s got a mailer out to that effect.
“You wouldn’t hire a contractor to build half a house,” the mailer reads. “Why would you elect a judge who can only do half the job?... His conflict would create CHAOS for the circuit, delay justice for victims, and require all of us to solve his problem — a problem HE created.”
Number of cases vs time spent hearing them
Johnson has said the majority of the cases in the 14th Circuit are civil cases. Moreover, there are other judicial circuits with only one judge who hear more cases than the two judges in the 14th Circuit.
“According to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), the 14th Circuit which has 2 circuit judges has 806 civil cases and 495 criminal cases (2019). Because of my experience I could easily manage all 806 civil cases (63% of workload) leaving only 495 cases (37%) for the other judge,” Johnson wrote on his website.
If Johnson is elected, all criminal cases in the circuit would go to Chief Circuit Court Judge Jeremy Mattox.
Mattox was given an opinion from the Judicial Ethics Commission that said he could address the issue of caseloads. What judges can say during elections is governed by the ethics commission. Mattox said he is not endorsing any candidate in the race.
Mattox said although there are more civil than criminal cases in the 14th Circuit, judges have to spend more time on criminal cases.
In 2020, an Administrative Office of the Courts study weighted caseloads based on the amount of time judges spend on certain types of cases. That study showed that criminal cases take a bigger chunk of a judge’s time.
For example, a felony homicide takes 1,118 minutes per case, according to the study. Contract dispute cases takes 19 minutes, according to the study.
Those numbers show that based on amount of time spent on cases, the workload or time spent would be closer to 60% on criminal cases and 40% for civil cases in the 14th judicial circuit, based on the weighted case loads, Mattox said.
Mattox said delays in criminal cases can lead to defendants sitting in jails pretrial for an extended period of time.
But Johnson said judges often spend more time on civil cases outside of court. Johnson said he was not familiar with the AOC study.
There’s also another issue — judges are supposed to be randomly assigned to avoid “judge shopping.” If Johnson only serves on civil cases and Mattox serves on criminal cases, there would no longer be random assignment of judges.
Johnson said there are multiple judicial circuits across the state that only have one judge.
“I don’t think that will be an issue,” Johnson said.
Candidates’ background
Meanwhile, Johnson, who served 12 years as a judge in the 14th circuit and then later served two years on the state Court of Appeals, has said he has more trial experience and is better suited than Gabhart for the job. Johnson, who was appointed to the Court of Appeals by then Gov. Matt Bevin, ran unsuccessfully for re-election in 2018 and was beat by former Fayette Circuit Court Judge Pamela Goodwine.
Johnson said he has more than 25 years experience as a judge or as a trial court lawyer. Prior to being on the bench, Gabhart largely practiced in state government.
“She has been practicing in Frankfort for 20 years,” Johnson said. “She does not have the trial experience.”
Gabhart, who has been on the bench for six months, has focused on ethics and her prior experience at the state ethics watch dog during the campaign. Gabhart has also served in other capacities in state government including serving as an assistant attorney general from 1999-2000.
Gabhart said it was her background in ethics that lead her to seek the seat.
“I didn’t intend to run for office, but when this issue came up I knew that based on my experience, based on my background, I would make an excellent counterpoint to the ethics issues that he would be creating by his judgeship,” Gabhart said. “So it’s not irony. It’s purposeful.”
Kentucky Registry of Election Finance reports show Gabhart has received roughly half of her donations from those in the legal community, including lawyers from outside Scott, Bourbon and Woodford counties. As of Oct. 24, Gabhart has raised more than $69,000.
Johnson has also received support from those in the legal community but has also self-funded part of his campaign, most recently loaning his campaign $29,000. But Johnson has raised more than Gabhart — just shy of $100,000, according to campaign finance reports.
A special judge ruled earlier this fall Johnson can remain on the ballot after two voters filed a lawsuit alleging Johnson could not fulfill the duties of the job. The state Court of Appeals later upheld the lower court’s ruling. Johnson and Muse Johnson also received an ethics opinion that said Johnson could serve as a judge while his wife served as commonwealth attorney.
