Constitutional Amendment 2 - Judicial Office Amendments

Summary

This amendment to the Constitution of Kentucky would change the term of Commonwealth's Attorneys from six-year terms to eight-year terms beginning in 2030, change the terms of judges of the district court from four-year terms to eight-year terms beginning in 2022, and require district judges to have been licensed attorneys for at least eight years beginning in 2022.

A “YES” vote on House Bill 405 is a vote in support of increasing terms for Commonwealth’s Attorneys and district court judges from six-years and four-years, respectively, to a uniform eight-years while also requiring that district judges be licensed attorneys for at least eight years.

A “NO” vote on House Bill 405 is a vote to oppose increasing term-lengths for Commonwealth’s Attorneys and district court judges and further opposes the increase of attorney licensing requirements for district judges.

Arguments

"Right now you can be a district judge two years after you graduate law school. … A second-year lawyer may not be a walking malpractice case, but they don’t have the equipment and experience that they need to be a judge.", in support of Constitutional Amendment 2 (Learn more)

"If we have the commonwealth’s attorneys at six years, and the circuit judges at eight-year terms, it makes re-circuiting very difficult", in support of Constitutional Amendment 2 (Learn more)

"I just think that eight-year terms are really long for any judge … and for any elected official in Kentucky. My other concern is some of our rural counties, one at least that I represent, there just aren’t a lot of potential applicants out there.", in opposition to Constitutional Amendment 2 (Learn more)

Measure Details