What is Northern Kentuckians for the Judiciary?
Northern Kentuckians for the Judiciary was organized in 2015 as an effort to maintain and improve the quality of judges in Northern Kentucky.
The nonprofit organization, which is registered with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance as a Permanent Committee, seeks to promote the election of the most highly qualified judicial candidates in Kentucky’s 16th, 17th and 54th Judicial Districts and the 6th Appellate District, which are courts located in Kenton, Campbell, and Boone Counties.
Members of the organization believe they have been successful in removing the financial and organizational considerations and the power of incumbency and name recognition in judicial campaigns, which often discourage legitimate candidates from running for judicial office.
NKFJ is operated by a Steering Committee made up of lawyers from different fields of law who practice in the courtrooms of Kenton, Campbell, and Boone Counties as well as a Citizen Review Board comprised of a cross-section of community-minded citizens with diverse occupations and backgrounds.
The Steering Committee personally interviews each candidate for judicial office. After the interviews are completed, Steering Committee members consider information obtained during the interviews and share their personal knowledge of the candidates.
Lay members of the Citizen Review Board are present to monitor the interviews and the integrity of the endorsement process. The Citizen Review Board determines whether the endorsements recommended by the Steering Committee are fair and comply with NKFJ’s operating rules. This committee may reject those endorsements that do not meet these criteria.
NKFJ is financed by annual dues paid by its members. Steering Committee members have term limits. Members of the Citizens Review Board are not required to pay annual dues and have no term limits.
The Steering Committee and Review Board members are not permitted to donate to judicial candidates except through NKFJ. Some lawyers and citizens, even though not members of NKFJ, prefer to give their donations to our organization instead of individual judicial candidates. Click here for information on how to contribute to NKFJ.