Impeached Lexington judge asks appeals court to stop proceedings before trial

Editor’s note: The Court of Appeals denied Judge Julie Muth Goodman’s order Monday afternoon, and said that the supreme court would be the ultimate body to determine if the proceedings could be stopped.

A Fayette County judge who was impeached last week by the House of Representatives is taking her fight against the proceedings to the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Muth Goodman on Thursday filed a motion for emergency relief after a lower court declined to intervene and halt a former state lawmaker’s impeachment proceedings against her.

One day later, Goodman was impeached by a vote of 73-14 in the House, and her case now heads to the Senate for a potential trial.

In the meantime, she is seeking expedited relief from the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

Goodman’s impeachment petition was filed in January by Killian Timoney, a former GOP lawmaker running this year to reclaim the Lexington-area House seat he lost in 2024. Timoney — and lawmakers who supported the impeachment, largely along party lines, with Republicans in favor — argue Goodman abused her office and should be removed from the bench.

But before a House impeachment committee considered whether to advance the impeachment petition, Goodman asked a Franklin County Circuit Court to stop the proceedings, arguing her due process rights were being violated.

Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd denied her request, saying that intervening in the process would violate separation of governmental powers.

Shepherd did note that Goodman raised several valid concerns with about her petition that would need to be addressed.

Shepherd took issue with how Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird presented her case against Goodman. He said she’d done “forum shopping” for her complaints by speaking at Goodman’s impeachment hearings instead of taking them to traditional channels, such as the Judicial Conduct Commission.

“This is a shocking admission from the main witness against Judge Goodman, who conceded there is not enough evidence to remove Judge Goodman from office in a judicial proceeding with the due process required by ... the Constitution,” Shepherd wrote.

On Thursday, after the House impeachment committee advanced the case against her, Goodman asked Shepherd a second time to consider intervening.

Shepherd again denied her request, and Goodman’s lawyers immediately filed the emergency relief request with the court of appeals.

Robert McBride, Goodman’s attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Attorney General Russell Coleman filed a response to Goodman’s most recent request calling it “moot.”

Coleman had also filed a response to Goodman’s initial request in lower court to “protect ... the constitution’s separation of powers provisions,” he said.

“The Attorney General takes no position on whether the House was right to impeach Judge Goodman or whether the Senate should remove her from office,” Coleman wrote. “The Attorney General’s only position is that those consequential decisions are for the General Assembly alone.”

This story was originally published March 23, 2026 at 3:24 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.