Published: November 05, 2009 12:14 am      

Family court judge nominees named

Beshear will select one to fill position

Grayson — The commonwealth’s attorney for Carter, Elliott and Morgan counties, his former assistant and the Morgan County attorney have all been nominated to fill a vacant family court judgeship.

David D. Flatt, Gary E. Conn and Steve O’Connor were chosen by the state Judicial Nominating Commission as candidates for the family court vacancy in Division 2 of the 37th Judicial District — Carter, Elliott and Morgan counties.

Their names will be submitted to Gov. Steve Beshear, who will select one of them to fill the position, which has been vacant since Kristi Gossett resigned May 22. Senior judges John Cox and Lewis D. Nicholls have been covering family courts in the three counties on an interim basis.

If Flatt is selected for the position, it will mean someone else will prosecute the capital murder trial of Robert Drown, the West Virginia man accused in the May 2007 slayings of a Carter County nurse and her two young daughters. It also could potentially mean another postponement of the trial, which is scheduled to begin May 4 in Johnson County.

Drown’s trial has been delayed twice due to defense attorneys leaving the case.

Flatt, of Olive Hill, earned his law degree from Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University.

Conn, a former assistant commonwealth’s attorney and now a practicing attorney in Grayson, earned his juris doctor degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law.

O’Connor, the county attorney for Morgan, received his legal degree from Chase.

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.

Family court, which is a division of circuit court, has primary jurisdiction in cases involving issues such as divorce, adoption, child support, domestic violence and juvenile status offenses.

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