As a pair of write-in candidates for 56th District Judge Division II, Jennifer Nelson and Matt Schalk took deliberate time addressing a wide range of questioning during Tuesday’s News Edge “Meet the Candidates” at The Way in Cadiz.
Among one of the tougher queries: is the probation process broken, and how can judges attack recidivism — especially when it pertains to consistent assault and property damage charges?
Schalk noted he’d take things on a case-by-case scenario if elected, but urged that people do deserve a chance for the straight-and-narrow without an immediate visit to jail.
Excuses, Nelson said, wouldn’t be tolerated in her courtroom.
A trial commissioner since 2009, Nelson said she’s been called at all hours of the day and night to sign and manage official paperwork — emergency protective orders, warrants and the like. She feels like this kind of responsibility has prepared her for the district position.
Schalk pointed to a limited number of judges and local law enforcement as key reasons why the district seat has to rise to the occasion.
As a general practitioner, Schalk said he’s had a number of individuals come to him with “unique” and interesting situations — everything from probate matters, wills, estates and all forms of criminal activity.
He’s been before several cases and hearings in the 13-county area, which helped bring the interest of this job to his mind.
Knowing the law and its rhetoric was important, but Nelson said it’s the people and their problems that brought her to run for this spot in the first place.
Having worked through the adoption courts with her own children, she’s particularly interested in mental health and family well-being.
The COVID-19 pandemic assuredly created a backlog of court cases and trials in the country, and especially in the 56th. Asked if they could quickly and effectively handle a large caseload, Nelson said the addition of a Division II circuit judge would help expedite the process.
But the logjam of the docket, she said, came down to more than just a pandemic.
Schalk attributed the cluttered docket not so much directly to the pandemic, but to prolific rises in drug used and subsequent charges arising in all walks of west Kentucky life.
This position came open following the appointment of Judge Natalie White to the 56th Circuit Court, Division II seat. Both Schalk and Nelson fell to Brandon Knoth in the May primary, and Knoth was appointed by Governor Andy Beshear to fill out the remainder of Judge Jamus Redd’s tenure — following his investiture to the vacancy created by Judge C.A. “Woody” Woodall’s retirement.
Schalk finished with 2,287 votes in May. Nelson had 2,111.
