Last-minute petition filed in KY House to impeach Lexington family court judge
Another petition to impeach a Fayette County judge was filed Tuesday to the Kentucky General Assembly.
The petition seeks to impeach Family Court Judge Ross Ewing, of Kentucky’s 22nd Circuit Court. But with just one legislative day remaining, the Kentucky House would need to accept the petition Wednesday before proceedings could begin. A meeting of the House impeachment committee had not been announced as of Wednesday morning.
The impeachment petition is one of several filed in recent months asking the legislature to probe the conduct of elected and appointed officials, including Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman and Fayette County Public Schools Board Chair Tyler Murphy. A petition to unseat Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Pamela Goodwine was accepted by the House but later dismissed.
Impeachment proceedings against a Kentucky judge are extremely rare. The House voted last month to impeach Goodman, but on Tuesday, after the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled the case should not proceed, the Kentucky Senate suspended its scheduled hearings while it awaits action from the state’s Judicial Conduct Commission.
If the hearing moves forward and the effort is successful, it would mark the first time in Kentucky’s modern history a judge has been removed via impeachment. It’s been more than 100 years since state lawmakers have even tried such a maneuver.
The most recent petition, filed by Luke Box, requests the House of Representatives begin impeachment proceedings against Ewing “on the grounds of criminal conduct and judicial misconduct during the 2022 election cycle.”
Neither Box nor Ewing responded to requests for comment after the petition was filed on the House floor Tuesday evening.
Impeachment efforts begin in the Kentucky House. If members advance the effort, the responsibility of trying impeachment rests with the Senate, which can hold impeachment hearings and a trial past the end of regular legislative sessions.
In the petition, Box said the judge accepted anonymous, unitemized donations above the legal aggregate limit of $2,000. Box also claimed Ewing reimbursed himself for non-documented expenses and directed campaign funds to his spouse.
The petition lists reporting and transparency violations as impeachable conduct. It claims Ewing submitted inaccurate financial reports and filed mandatory disclosure almost 200 days late, “appearing to obfuscate the source and transfer of $17,481.70 in campaign funds.”
According to the petition, the judge accepted $5,700 in primary funding from board members of a pair of family advocacy nonprofits — Court-Appointed Special Advocates of Lexington and The Nest — then, in closing out his campaign, donated over $15,700 back to those same organizations, “which provide critical reporting that influences his court’s decisions,” the petition said.
A lengthy exhibit is attached to the petition as evidence for Box’s claims, including documents pulled from the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, website domain registration data, nonprofit board records and other digital evidence, such as screenshots of campaign materials and videos.
Box posted on social media he had submitted a complaint to the Judicial Conduct Commission and the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance in addition to asking the House to initiate impeachment proceedings.
In the post, Box acknowledged Ewing presided over a legal case he was party to between November 2024 and March 2026. According to court records, there is an active custody case involving someone with the same name being heard in Ewing’s court.
Box also has two inactive domestic violence cases, court records show. Both complaints, filed by the same woman roughly two weeks apart in fall 2024, were denied. The woman is a defendant in the custody case.
This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 8:33 AM.
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