2026 Regular Session - Sine Die - Citation | Rep. John Blanton

I want to take just a few minutes to remind my colleagues and members of the public about how we reached this point today. In January, the House received a petition from a citizen calling for the impeachment of Judge Julie Goodman. When the issue was referred to the House Impeachment Committee, we sent a letter to the Judicial Conduct Commission, I will herefore refer to as JCC, and we asked them if there was an investigation underway on Judge Goodman. The JCC responded to the committee in writing with a refusal to disclose that information. So the committee decided to press on with the investigation. We held a hearing on March the 16th with testimony from Fayette County's Commonwealth Attorney Kimberly Baird and Mr. Doug Boxton. That testimony was compelling enough for the committee to recommend to the full House that articles of impeachment should be adopted and presented to the Senate for trial. That brings me to the first point I want to make, Mr. Speaker. It was the House of Representatives, let me be clear, not Killian Timoney, that conducted its own investigation into Judge Goodman's conduct. It was the House of Representatives, not Mr. Timoney, that concluded that Judge Goodman's conduct constituted misdemeanors in office. It was the House of Representatives, not Mr. Timoney, that approved and adopted those articles of impeachment. And if an impeachment trial occurs in the Senate in 2027, it will be the House of Representatives, not Mr. Timoney or anyone else, that will be making the case for Judge Goodman's conviction and removal from office. By way of analogy, Mr. Speaker, when a law enforcement officer receives information that a crime has been committed, he would then conduct his own investigation and he would reach his own conclusions about whether a charge should be brought in the name of the Commonwealth. It is not a witness or a complaining party who takes that decisive step to bring a charge. It is unfortunate, likewise, the impeachment of Judge Goodman was done by the House in its own name, under its own constitutional authority and its own investigation. It is unfortunate that some members of the public and apparently some people within the Court of Justice profess to be confused on that first point. My second point, Mr. Speaker, is that the House might have suspended its investigation back in February, maybe, if the JCCC had answered our question about whether there was an investigation pending into Judge Goodman's conduct. Several years ago, the House of Representatives was beginning to investigate the conduct of another judge. We asked the JCCC if there was an investigation pending. They told us there was, and we suspended further investigation until the JCCC finished their work. Now to be clear, the House of Representatives is not required to suspend its work when a JCCC investigation is underway, but it can do so if it so chooses. And it has done so in the past, and maybe it will do so again in the future. Under our Constitution, there are two separate methods by which a judge can be removed from office. First, the House of Representatives can pursue an impeachment under its authority in Section 66 of the Kentucky Constitution. Second, the Court of Justice can pursue removal from office under its authority in Section 121 of the Kentucky Constitution. These are two separate tracts, and they operate independently of each other. That's what the Constitution says. In fact, in Section 109, it says that the impeachment power is inviolate, inviolate people. That's what our Constitution says. And no one, not even the Kentucky Supreme Court, can change that. Only the voters can change the General Assembly's impeachment powers by means of a future constitutional amendment. Unless and until that occurs, the House of Representatives must continue to exercise its constitutional powers to impeach public officials who commit misdemeanors in office. Mr. Speaker, I thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to provide some context to today's action, and I make a motion for adoption. I've got objections to order.