Published: November 03, 2009 10:36 pm      

Nominees for judgeship announced

Hall, Reese, Ruth seek to replace Davis

Catlettsburg — The state Judicial Nominating Commission on Tuesday announced the names of the three nominees for the vacant Boyd District Court judgeship.

The names will be submitted to Gov. Steve Beshear, who will appoint a new judge to replace George W. Davis III in Division 1 of the 32nd Judicial District.

The nominees for the post are Roger W. Hall, Scott T. Reese and Anna H. Ruth.

‰Hall is a member of the Ashland law firm Williams, Hall & Latherow. He earned his law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law.

‰Reese is assistant Boyd commonwealth’s attorney. He earned his legal degree from the Widener University School of Law in Pennsylvania.

‰Ruth is a practicing attorney in Ashland and earned her law degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law.

The district judge’s post opened up earlier this year when Beshear appointed Davis to replace Marc I. Rosen on the Boyd Circuit Court bench. Rosen retired and took senior judge status, and has been serving as district judge on an interim basis.

When a judicial vacancy occurs, the executive secretary of the Judicial Nominating Commission publishes a notice of vacancy in the judicial circuit or the judicial district affected. Attorneys can recommend someone or nominate themselves. The names of the applicants are not released.

Once nominations occur, the individuals interested in the position return a questionnaire to the Office of the Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court. Chief Justice John D. Minton then meets with the Judicial Nominating Commission to choose three nominees.

Because the Kentucky Constitution requires that three names be submitted to the governor, in some cases the commission submits an attorney’s name even though the attorney did not apply.

A letter naming the three nominees is sent to the governor for review. Beshear now has 60 days to appoint a replacement.

Whoever is appointed to the post will have to run for re-election next year.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.