The Judicial Nominating Commission, led by Chief Justice of Kentucky John D. Minton Jr., announced nominees to fill the vacant Circuit Court judgeship in Campbell County. Campbell County is the 17th Judicial Circuit and the vacancy is in the circuit’s 2nd Division.
The three nominees for the judgeship are attorneys Joseph Franklin Grimme, Jeffrey Michael Sanders and Daniel J. Zalla, all of Fort Thomas.
Each received his juris doctor from Northern Kentucky University’s Salmon P. Chase College of Law.
Grimme is a partner in the law firm of Fessler, Schneider & Grimme and previously served as a prosecutor for the Campbell County Attorney’s Office. He is also a Campbell County deputy master commissioner.
Sanders has had his own law practice for nearly 20 years.
Zalla has his own law practice and a mediation service. He served as an appointed Kenton County Circuit Court judge from August 2006-January 2007.
The Circuit Court judicial seat became vacant when Judge Fred A. Stine resigned Aug. 4.
Circuit Court is the court of general jurisdiction that hears civil matters involving more than $5,000, capital offenses and felonies, divorces, adoptions, termination of parental rights, land dispute title cases and contested probate cases.
The Judicial Nominating Commission helps fill judicial vacancies by appointment when a vacancy occurs outside of the election cycle.
When a judicial vacancy occurs, the executive secretary of the JNC publishes a notice of vacancy in the judicial circuit or the judicial district affected. Attorneys may 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. Chief Justice 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. The governor has 60 days to appoint a replacement and his office makes the announcement.
The commission has seven members. The membership is comprised of the chief justice of Kentucky (who also serves as chair), two lawyers elected by all the lawyers in their circuit/district and four Kentucky citizens who are appointed by the governor. The four citizens appointed by the governor must equally represent the two major political parties, so two must be Democrats and two must be Republicans. It is the responsibility of the commission to submit a list of three names to the governor and the governor must appoint a judge from this list of three.
The Administrative Office of the Courts in Frankfort is the operations arm for the state court system. The AOC supports the activities of nearly 3,400 court system employees and 404 elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks. As the fiscal agent for the state court system, the AOC executes the Judicial Branch budget.