In a brief Thursday testimony with Kentucky’s Interim Joint Committee, Chief Justice John Minton Jr. gave his final “State of the Judiciary” Address to the Commonwealth — putting a capstone on his 14 years in the seat.
A 30-year veteran of the judicial system and native of Cadiz and Bowling Green, Minton posited on the past, present and future of Kentucky — a state which finds itself rich in economic opportunity, but not without its challenges from the last decade.
Minton served Kentucky’s highest court at a very unique time in history.
A “great recession” in 2012 forced furloughs across all three branches of government and large swathes of the state’s workforce, and he noted that years of lean budgets were followed with 282 laid-off state workers — forcing closures of court programs, trimming operating costs and impacting all four levels of court.
This downsizing, he said, at least somewhat prepared the courts for the COVID-19 pandemic — as Governor Andy Beshear’s state of emergency declaration on March 6, 2020, moved in-person proceedings to virtual efforts.
As such, Minton said one of the greatest accomplishments of offices during his tenure was Kentucky’s digital transformation from paper to electronic records, and the flexibility of moving dockets to online locations. He said he was also “grateful” for House Bill 556, which authorized more than $14 million to facilitate virtual hearings between county jails and the courts.
Improved pay scales were also a part of his authority. Minton said Kentucky’s judges earn at least 20% less than the national average, and that circuit court clerks make an average of 11%-to-13% less than their counterparts in county government. All non-elected employees off probation have since received no less than a $2,000 salary bump, and all justices, judges and circuit court clerks received an 8% boon.
The future of state courts, he said, need to focus on continued progress in racial justice and equity, the ceaseless digital transformation or public services, the importance of categorizing behavioral health issues involved with criminality, the changing conceptions of “work” and “the workplace,” and climate change.
In retirement, Minton said he very much looked forward to four things: more time with his family, more time in his garden, more time in his book club, and more time with his bees.
Appointed to the state’s highest chair of the modern courts in 2008, KET’s Renee Shaw said Minton’s 14 years of service made him the second-longest chief justice in Kentucky’s history of the modern court system.
