A County Judge/Executive (or simply, Judge/Executive, and often written Judge-Executive) is an

elected official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...

in the U.S.

Commonwealth of 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 ...

who is the head of the executive branch 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 ...

in a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers 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 There are 120 counties in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. Despite ranking 37th in size by area, Kentucky has 120 counties, fourth among states (including Virginia's independent cities). The original motivation for having so many counties wa ...

, the county's legislature. The position is established by the

Kentucky Constitution The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the document that governs the Kentucky, Commonwealth of Kentucky. It was first adopted in 1792 and has since been rewritten three times and amended many more. The later versions were adopted in 179 ...

, Section 144, and may not be abolished without amending that document. In other states, similar positions are often titled

county executive 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 ...

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 The term county judge is applied as a descriptor, sometimes as a title, for a person who presides over a county court. In most cases, such as in Northern Ireland and the Victorian County Courts, a county judge is a judicial officer with civil ...

performs similar functions.

History

Before the Kentucky Constitution of 1850, the primary administrator of a county was the justice of the peace. 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 The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

power, the Judge/Executive is often informally referred to as "The Judge", 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 ...

's consolidated city-county governments, premier executive power is exercised by either the Metro Mayor (i.e.

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

) 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.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Kentucky County Judge-Executive Association

History

Term and duties

See also

References

External links