News and Music Discovery
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ky Supreme Court Approves Judicial Redistricting Proposal

http://courts.ky.gov/

The Kentucky Supreme Court has voted to approve a redistricting measure that eliminates the 1st District Circuit Court and re-shifts the courts in several western counties.

Supreme Court Justice Bill Cunningham cast the lone dissenting vote during Tuesday's session which approved the so-called introduced earlier this year.  

In October, Chief Justice John Minton asked the General Assembly to take up judicial redistricting citing heavy caseloads in local courts. The request came on the heels of a National Center for State Courts study.

Among changes to districts statewide, the proposal would eliminate the 1st Circuit Court District, which includes Ballard, Fulton, Hickman and Carlisle Counties.  Ballard would join with McCracken County in the 2nd District, while the remaining counties would join with Graves County in the 52nd.  

Cunningham says the decision has to do with population decline in the rural river counties over the last 40 years, with residents moving towards the cities.

“Theoretically, it’s supposed to even out the caseload," said Cunningham. "They’ve compiled this data based on experiences over the last four to five years and not taking into effect five more years. There were too many variables in it for me to support, I felt like the court system in far west Kentucky was operating well.”
McCracken County's 2nd District Circuit Court Judge Tim Kaltenbach says the proposal would actually increase the caseload for some judges and courts currently focused on issues respective to their locality.

“That would include the family court judge, the two circuit court judges and the district court judges would not be in the interests of people of McCracken County, and I do not believe in the interest of the people of Ballard County," said Kaltenbach.

The proposal has to be certified by the Chief Justice and then approved by the legislature in the upcoming session and signed by the Governor before it’s fully implemented.

Cunningham says the changes will not go into effect until 2022 - the next time circuit and district judges run for election concurrently.

Rob Canning is a native of Murray, KY, a 2015 TV Production grad of Murray State. At MSU, he served as team captain of the Murray State Rowing Club. Rob's goal is to become a screenwriter, film director or producer and looks to the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie for inspiration. He appreciates good music, mainly favoring British rock n' roll, and approves of anything with Jack White's name on it. When not studying, rowing or writing, Rob enjoys spending his free time with a book or guitar.
Related Content