FRANKFORT, Ky., Oct. 24, 2005 - In a follow-up to last week's announcement that Family Court would be implemented in Kenton County by January 2007, Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert announced today that Division 2 of the 16th Judicial Circuit would be designated a Family Court judgeship.
Currently there are four Circuit Court divisions and four District Court divisions in Kenton County. The implementation of Family Court will occur by transforming one Circuit Court division into a Family Court division (Division 2) and by assigning one District Court judge to also serve in Family Court (also Division 2).
All circuit and district judgeships in Kenton County are up for re-election for 2006. When the new judicial terms begin in January 2007, the Chief Justice will assign a district judge to serve in Family Court under the authority granted in Section 110(5)(b) of the Kentucky Constitution. The composition of the court will change at that time from four circuit judges and four district judges to three Circuit Court judges, two Family Court judges and three District Court judges
"Judge Frank Trusty, who serves as district judge for the second division, has announced that he will not seek re-election," said Chief Justice Lambert. "As a result, I plan to assign the district judge elected in Division 2 to sit in Family Court."
Kenton is currently the largest county in Kentucky without the benefits of Family Court. Seventy-nine percent of Kenton County voters supported the 2002 amendment that made Family Court a permanent part of the Kentucky court system.
Family Court is a division of Circuit Court, Kentucky's highest trial court level. It employs full-time judges with the same qualifications as those who serve other divisions of Circuit Court. Family Court provides one judge to hear all of a family’s issues relating to divorce, child custody, adoption, termination of parental rights, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect. Because Family Court is devoted exclusively to cases involving families and children, family law cases do not compete for court time with criminal and other civil cases. Today Kentucky Family Court serves more than 2 million Kentuckians in 43 counties.
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