Bench & Bar September/October 2026

PRESIDENT'S PAGE

a time for and Milestones

Celebrations by matthew p. cook

only one appellate court known as the Court of Appeals and it was notoriously overworked and slow to render decisions. Judicial and Bar leaders recognized the need for a better system and went to work to edu cate the public and to seek reform. Proposed constitutional provisions were drafted and adopted in 1974 by the General Assembly and the proposed amendment was placed on the ballot for voters in November 1975. The proposed reform effort was opposed by rural county judges who were leery of giving up power. A number of influential Kentucky lawyers and judges spearheaded a campaign to educate voters and to advo cate for the passage of the Judicial Article. Chief among these advocates were Morton Holbrook of Owensboro, James Amato of Lexington, Nancy Lancaster of Frankfort, as well as Judge Henry Meigs II, University of Kentucky Law Professor Amos Eblen, Bar leaders Stanley Chauvin, Jr., William Rummage, Glenn Denham, Henry Strat ton, and Chief Justice John Palmore. For those interested in the history behind the judicial reform effort, I recommend an excellent book entitled “United At Last: The Judicial Article and the Struggle to Reform Kentucky’s Courts” by Kurt X. Metzmeier, Michael Whiteman, and Jason Nemes. In the election of November 1975, Kentucky voters passed the Judicial Article amend ment by a vote of 395,543 to 215,419 and it went into effect in 1976. The amendment

vote was successful in only 35 of the 120 counties, but there were big margins in the more populated counties that made the difference in the final outcome. The voters approved what became a model judicial system with a unified Court of Jus tice vested with the judicial power of the Commonwealth. Under the new constitu tional enactment, the chief justice was made the executive head of the Court of Justice and the current four-tiered court system (District, Circuit, Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court) was created. This enact ment also created a constitutional right of appeal (Kentucky Constitution Sec tion 115); granted the Supreme Court the authority to make rules of practice and procedure for the Court of Justice and to govern admission to the bar and the disci pline of members of the bar (Section 116); and established nonpartisan judicial elec tions (Section 117). In his forward to the book “United at Last,” former Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert noted that “[t]hese provisions gave sub stance to other constitutional sections providing for separation of powers among the three departments of government.” He correctly noted that the Judicial Article “has survived the birthing process, grow ing pains, adolescence, and reached a robust maturity.” Kentucky lawyers should be proud of the Judicial Article and celebrate the positive

2026 is a milestone year worthy of celebra tion. First and foremost, 2026 is the United States of America’s Semiquincentennial – the 250 th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. In addition to fireworks and cook outs, I hope you’ve had the opportunity to reflect on the importance of this national anniversary. We are blessed to live in this country where freedom is the bedrock principle of our identity. 250 years after our revolutionary founding, the Declaration of Independence still challenges us to keep working together to build a better country where all of our citizens are free to exercise what Jefferson called our unalienable rights – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In addition, this is a milestone year for Ken tucky as we celebrate the 50 th anniversary of the passage of the Judicial Article of our state’s Constitution. Prior to the passage of this judicial reform effort by the citizens of the Commonwealth, Kentucky courts operated under the 1891 State Constitution. Under that anachronistic system, Kentucky had a hodgepodge of misdemeanor courts that were presided over largely by non-law yer judges. There were county courts, police courts, municipal courts and it was common for the judges in these courts to have no training in the law. This model led to inconsistent justice across the state and a number of inefficiencies that cried out for change. Likewise, the appellate system was badly in need of reform. There was then

2

september/october 2026