KY legislators, judiciary clash as judge’s impeachment hearings get underway

Rather than hearing testimony in a courtroom, Fayette County commonwealth’s attorney Kimberly Baird and Circuit Judge Julie Muth Goodman provided it Monday during the first public round of rare and controversial impeachment proceedings in Frankfort to remove Goodman from the bench.

Baird, the county’s top prosecutor, gave a direct “yes,” when asked if she believed Goodman should be impeached for abusing her position as a judge.

“The ultimate goal is that she can no longer sit on the circuit court bench,” Baird told the committee.

The impeachment petition was filed in January by Killian Timoney, a former state representative for the 45th District, accusing Goodman of abusing her office. He cited six cases from Goodman’s court he thought constituted misconduct.

Goodman’s request late last week to delay the proceedings was denied. But the move to impeach a sitting judge has drawn criticism. Over the weekend, nearly 70 lawyers and others who work in Kentucky’s justice system signed a letter pushing back on the proceedings, questioning whether it violates the separation of powers.

Monday’s proceedings in Frankfort by the legislative impeachment committee were the first conducted in public after the body accepted and discussed the petition in closed session Feb. 26. Baird was one of two witnesses who testified, and firmly said she thought Goodman used her position as a judge to change the outcome of criminal cases.

As a result, Baird said her office, which oversees criminal cases in Fayette County, has to handle cases that go before Goodman differently.

For example, they will talk to victims to prepare them for “disparaging remarks” or an outcome that is not favorable or maybe even legal, Baird testified. For defendants, Baird said her office offers plea deals in an effort to avoid Goodman having to make a ruling.

But Baird said any animus from Goodman was one she wanted to stop, even if it meant testifying before the impeachment committee.

“I’ve not weighed in or said in anything,” Baird said. “When I was called and asked (by the committee) I said yes, because I don’t know what else to do at this point. I don’t know how to stop it.”

Nemes: Allegations against Goodman ‘problematic’

During Monday’s four-hour hearing, the judicial and legislative branches clashed on procedure.

Goodman and her attorneys contend several of the cases involved in the proceedings are active, meaning the judge is prohibited by professional ethics from speaking about them. That raises the issue of due process, her attorneys sad.

“I am duty bound to not defend myself,” Goodman said Monday morning, becoming emotional.

Several of the cases are pending at the appellate court level, which Goodman’s attorneys said leaves open the possibility a higher court could determine Goodman’s ruling were correct.

But committee chair Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, was adamant he did not care about whether Goodman was right or wrong in her legal interpretation. Instead, he wants to address specific allegations Goodman flouted the law.

“We are talking about conduct in and on the bench,” Nemes said. “It is not whether she was right or wrong, but whether she abused her position.”

Nemes read aloud transcripts from Goodman’s court where he said she purposely knew the law, but disregarded it in making a ruling.

In one case, according to the petition, Goodman allegedly conducted her own research into a fatal-hit-and-run, overstepping her duties as a judge. The research referenced was Goodman searching for data that showed prosecutors charged Black defendants more harshly.

In another, a case that determined whether the University of Kentucky had sovereign immunity, the petition and supporting transcript alleges Goodman said she willingly disobeyed a higher court’s precedent because she didn’t agree with it.

“The allegations here are much more problematic than a judge who got a case right or wrong,” Nemes said. “It is deliberately not following the law. Those are the allegations.”

Goodman said she thought the statements were taken out of context.

A ruling was not determined at the conclusion of Monday’s hearing. If the committee determines Goodman’s conduct rises to the level of impeachment, they will issue Articles of Impeachment, and Goodman’s case would then go before the Senate for a full trial.

In the group letter, legal professionals raised questions over whether another government branch can silence the elected judiciary as punishment for their bench rulings.

This story was originally published March 16, 2026 at 3:35 PM.

Taylor Six

Lexington Herald-Leader

Taylor Six is the criminal justice reporter at the Herald-Leader. She was born and raised in Lexington attending Lafayette High School. She graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2018 with a degree in journalism. She previously worked as the government reporter for the Richmond Register.