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A County Judge/Executive (or simply, Judge/Executive, and often written Judge-Executive) is an elected official in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky who is the head of the
Kentucky County Judge-Executive Association
A County Judge/Executive (or simply, Judge/Executive, and often written Judge-Executive) is an elected official in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky who is the head of the executive branch
The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state.
In poli ...
of a government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
in a county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
. The Judge/Executive is an ''ex officio'' member of the Fiscal Court, the county's legislature. The position is established by the Kentucky Constitution, Section 144, and may not be abolished without amending that document. In other states, similar positions are often titled county executive or county mayor
A county executive, county manager or county mayor is the head of the executive branch of government in a United States county.
The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, the executive typically functions either as a ...
(or in Georgia, or neighboring Indiana, county commissioner
A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...
). In Texas, the county judge performs similar functions.
History
Before the Kentucky Constitution of 1850, the primary administrator of a county was thejustice of the peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
. The 1850 constitution provided for the office of a county judge, elected by the citizens. The county judge presided over certain county courts, most notably the court of claims, the forerunner of the fiscal court.
The fourth state constitution, enacted in 1891, reorganized county governments into much of their present form. Judicial, legislative and executive leadership was provided for in the office of the county judge. A 1975 amendment to the constitution minimized the judicial roles of the county judge and maximized the legislative and executive roles. This amendment also changed the name of the office to County Judge/Executive.
Term and duties
The Judge/Executive serves a four-year term and may be re-elected indefinitely. Though he wields no judicial power, the Judge/Executive is often informally referred to as "TheJudge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
", is formally addressed as "Your Honor", and is styled as "The Honorable
''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...
". The Judge/Executive is the presiding officer and a voting member of the Fiscal Court, enabling him to exercise a role in the legislative process.
In Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
's consolidated city-county
In United States local government, a consolidated city-county is formed when one or more cities and their surrounding county ( parish in Louisiana, borough in Alaska) merge into one unified jurisdiction. As such it has the governmental powers o ...
governments, premier executive power is exercised by either the Metro Mayor (i.e. Louisville) or the Urban-County Mayor (i.e. Lexington). The counties in which these cities reside retain, and fill by election, their offices of County Judge/Executive.
See also
* Fiscal CourtReferences
{{ReflistExternal links
Kentucky County Judge-Executive Association