Citing conflict, Scott County residents sue to remove judge candidate from ballot
Two Scott County residents have filed a civil suit in Scott County Circuit Court to remove a candidate’s name from an upcoming political ballot, citing conflict of interest.
Sarah Fightmaster and Kim Vinegar filed the complaint on Monday to have Rob Johnson removed from the ballot as 14th Circuit judicial candidate.
Court documents state Johnson is married to 14th Judicial Circuit Commonwealth Attorney Sharon Muse and argue that Johnson would be unable to perform his constitutional duties by having to recuse from all criminal cases over that relationship.
Already, Johnson is employed by the office of the Commonwealth Attorney as a part-time assistant commonwealth attorney.
“Should Johnson be seated as Circuit Judge, it would be a violation of judicial ethics for him to preside over any criminal matter,” court documents read.
Plaintiffs: Johnson would have to recuse from many criminal proceedings
Circuit judges preside over a court of general jurisdiction, with a majority of the workload presiding over criminal matter. Those are assigned randomly between the two divisions of the 14th circuit court under the rules of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. According to the lawsuit, the same rules permit the Chief Judge of the Circuit to distribute cases so there is not a disparate workload between the two divisions.
“It is unlikely that Johnson would violate judicial ethics in such a manner,” the document reads. “Instead he would more likely recuse from every criminal matter prosecuted in Bourbon, Scott and Woodford Counties.”
The lawsuit states this creates a situation where Johnson could not perform the majority of the constitutional duties of the position for which he seeks election -- unless he violates the Judicial Canons of Ethics.
“As previously noted, this relationship disqualifies Johnson from presiding over any criminal proceeding before the Circuit Court because Mrs. Muse-Johnson is the top prosecutor in the circuit, and her staff, including the assistant commonwealth attorneys serve at her pleasure,” the lawsuit states. “Therefore it is impossible to insulate Johnson from his wife in criminal proceedings, as she is the duly elected official with the responsibility of prosecuting all matters before this Circuit Court.”
The documents allege Johnson and his wife have attempted on numerous occasions to propose that the 14th Circuit Court be split into a Circuit Civil Court and a Circuit Criminal Court, “to ensure that he and his wife are able to obtain and continue in high paying government employment.”
Court documents cite a quote from an article in the Nov. 25, 2021, Georgetown News-Graphic regarding their candidacy that read, “One division could only take civil cases while the other would take the criminal cases. In other words, if Johnson were elected, he could agree to accept the civil cases, avoiding presiding over a court proceeding in which Muse is the prosecutor.”
The plaintiffs argue in the suit that such a split would “wholly undermine the idea of a court of general jurisdiction, as contemplated by the Kentucky Constitution and the Kentucky Revised Statutes.”
“The taxpayers of the commonwealth will suffer significant harm by paying a judge more than $140,000 annually for Johnson to perform less than half of the duties of the office,” court documents read. “The residents of Bourbon, Scott, and Woodford Counties will be harmed by the delay in adjudication of serious matters due to the absence of a judge in its Second Division who can fairly hear matters.”
The plaintiffs asked the courts that they find Robert Johnson is not a bona fide candidate for the position, issue an order disqualifying him as a candidate and enjoin the Secretary of State and State board of Elections to strike Johnson’s name from the ballot in the upcoming General Election. Finally, they ask an order to be issued enjoining the State Board of Elections to direct the County Boards of Election, County Clerks, and program administrations to remove Johnson’s name from any existing ballot templates and to re-print already prepared without his name.
Johnson said in a statement that the lawsuit was a frivolous attempt to confuse the public.
“This is the latest attempt to direct voter attention away from the most critical issue in this election – which candidate has the necessary trial experience,” Johnson said in an emailed statement to the Herald-Leader. “This position is for a trial judge. I’ve had over 100 trials; my opponent has never had a trial, not as an attorney or a judge. The Kentucky Judicial Ethics Commission has already concluded I can be the Circuit Judge while my wife is the Commonwealth Attorney. We would never appear in the same courtroom. The will of the voters and their decision should determine the outcome of this election, not frivolous lawsuits meant to confuse the public. Voters can see through this kind of dirty politics. It’s beneath the office of Circuit Judge and the conduct of public servants.”
A spokesperson for Sec. of State Michael Adams said he had not seen the lawsuit as of Monday afternoon, and therefore could not comment.
Previous request for investigation
This is not the first time the Johnsons have been in the headlines. In February, a former circuit court judge accused Sharon Muse-Johnson of misconduct and formally requested that the state Attorney General’s office investigate her for potential ethical and legal violations, according to a letter obtained by the Herald-Leader.
Brian Privett, a circuit court judge in the 14th circuit, sent a formal investigation request to the attorney general in January. Privett said in his letter there were several unethical actions committed by Muse-Johnson and her husband, Rob Johnson.
A retired state Supreme Court justice said last year that there was no ethical issue with Johnson running for a judge position while Sharon-Muse served as prosecutor, according to the Georgetown News-Graphic.
In addition, the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General also found “insufficient evidence” of criminal conduct after releasing results of the investigation in May 2022.
This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 1:27 PM.
