Kentucky Court of Justice
Chief Justice announces improvements to judicial center program

Frankfort, Ky. -- Chief Justice of Kentucky John D. Minton Jr. discussed improvements to the Administrative Office of the Courts judicial center construction program at the Friday, Oct. 3, meeting of the Court Facilities Standards Committee in Frankfort. He also solicited input from the CFSC members about improvements to the program.

Chief Justice Minton told the committee and those who attended the meeting that he was looking at ways to be as transparent as possible with the process of courthouse construction. He announced that these improvements would be made to the program:

■ Request that State Auditor Crit Luallen take a closer look at judicial center projects. The state auditor presently audits judicial centers as part of her county audits.

"We are perfectly confident in the way these expenditures are made and business is conducted," Chief Justice Minton said.

■ Add a judicial center expenditures tracking system to the Kentucky Court of Justice Web site so that citizens could see how money is being spent on the projects.

■ Request that the National Center for State Courts review the AOC's administrative procedures for judicial centers and provide feedback. The procedures include criteria for court facilities construction program development, and design and construction rules and standards.

■ Implement an e-mail notification system to inform citizens about meeting dates for each county Project Development Board. Interested citizens would register to receive notification.

■ Post the official minutes from each county Project Development Board meeting to the Court of Justice Web site so that the public may access them at any time. Meeting minutes are presently available upon request.

The CFSC is a 10-member body comprised of representatives from the Kentucky Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches of government and a county official appointed by the governor. The committee reviews design plans, cost estimates and financing proposals for new court facilities statewide. State Sen. Robert Stivers and state Rep. Kathy Stein co-chair the 10-member committee, which includes Chief Justice Minton and AOC Director Jason Nemes. The committee reviews design plans, cost estimates and financing proposals for new court facilities.