Candidates for Fayette family court judge see chance to impact crime by helping youth
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Both candidates for family court judge in Fayette County said they hope to use the position to help children and families, which, in turn, can help reduce future crime.
Carl Devine and Tiffany Yahr are running for the seat on the bench in the 22nd Judicial Circuit’s 6th Division, a position previously held by Kathy Stein, who retired in February.
Devine was appointed by Gov. Andy Beshear to fill the vacancy in March.
Family court cases “include the dissolution of marriage, spousal support and equitable distribution; child custody, support and visitation; paternity and adoption; termination of parental rights; domestic violence; dependency, neglect and abuse; and runaways, truancy and beyond control,” according to the circuit court’s website.
Family court judges serve eight-year terms.
Both candidates said the cases that come before family court judges offer an opportunity to change the direction of children’s lives.
“One of the ways that we better our community is to take care of those families that we see early on,” Yahr said. “If we can touch them and support them, in some ways they are less likely to make the jump to district court” as they mature.
She and Devine both said partnering with community organizations to get people the help they need can be an important part of that.
Carl Devine
Devine spent 25 years practicing family law, which he said “has fully prepared me for this position.”
“I feel like I’ve done a lot in six months,” he said.
One of the first things he did was establish a separate docket for people who can’t afford a private attorney, since he said he saw people waiting hours in court for their cases to be called, while those with an attorney got to go first.
By having a separate time for people without legal representation, “they know that their cases are being heard. They’re being respected,” Devine said.
He’s also a supporter of the Legal Self Help Center, created earlier this year by the Kentucky Access to Justice Commission to help people who are trying to navigate the legal system on their own.
“For far too long, people have viewed the legal system as elevated,” Devine said. “The whole goal is to give them equal access to justice.”
He said he’s also using the judgeship to tackle domestic violence. He said he worked with Greenhouse 17 and the victim’s advocate in the Commonweath Attorney’s office to host a training for law students.
When fathers come into court who are not active in their children’s lives, he said he requires them to attend the Fatherhood Initiative or a similar program.
Devine said sometimes people need mentoring, and sometimes they need job training and placement programs. He said he’s worked with One Lexington in those areas.
“When people get behind on child support, they do things normally they wouldn’t do,” he said, so connecting people with community partners who can help them is one way to combat crime.
Devine said he’s also concerned about the shortage of state social workers, and he’s made changes that he hopes will reduce the amount of time they spend in court, as well as the court’s paperwork burden on them, so they can spend more time on other parts of their jobs.
Tiffany Yahr
Yahr, an attorney for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services who handles cases involving parental rights and child abuse and neglect, said she would be the first family court judge in Fayette County with a background in the state’s child welfare system.
“Having worked for the cabinet, I’ve seen the inside of how this child welfare and family support machine works,” she said.
She’s also been a foster parent herself. She said she and her husband adopted a child from foster care.
Knowing “how the system works from the inside out helps me know what questions need to be asked, know when we need to take more steps,” Yahr said.
For the first seven years of her career, she said she was in private practice and handled other kinds of cases that would come before a family court judge judge, such as divorces and child custody cases.
“Public service is definitely where my heart and passion is,” she said. “I want to do more on a bigger platform. I want to be able to use the experiences that I’ve had and the skills that I’ve gained to better our community.”
She said one of the greatest challenges facing the court is resources: social workers, foster homes and substance abuse treatment are all desperately needed.
“One way to combat that is to make sure family court is acting as collaboratively as the law allows,” she said.
If elected, she said she’d listen to different opinions to “make the best decision possible” and would handle the court’s large docket efficiently “so families don’t have to wait months for a decision.”
She said one thing she’d like to work on is improving communication with foster parents, who she said often “feel like they are the last people to know what’s going on.”
Carl D. Devine
Age: 50
Previous work experience: Practiced family law for 25 years.
Offices currently or previously held: Fayette Family Court Judge for the 6th Division; Former chair of the Domestic Relations Section of the Fayette County Bar Association; Has served on the Grandparents as Parents Committee since 2006; Board of Directors of the Beaumont YMCA.
Family: Devine and his wife Scarlett have a blended family that includes their children Kamryn, 23; Meradith, 23; Grant, 19; and Caroline, 18.
Tiffany Yahr
Age: 41
Previous work experience: Attorney, Brian T. Canupp PSC, 2007-2012; Solo practitioner, 2012-2015; Regional Attorney, Cabinet for Health & Family Services, 2015-2019; Attorney Supervisor, Cabinet for Health & Family Services, 2019-current.
Offices currently or previously held: None
Family: Husband, Josh Yahr; Daughters Kyleigh Evans, Hannah Yahr and Grace Yahr; and son Ben Yahr.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify that Kathy Stein retired from her position as judge.
This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 1:00 PM.
