A new state law reshaping judicial districts and circuits across the state has a local impact, joining Warren and Edmonson counties in the same circuit and district and creating a new circuit judgeship for that jurisdiction.

The legislation, Kentucky House Bill 214, passed both houses of the General Assembly with significant majorities and was signed into law April 8 by Gov. Andy Beshear.

The law rearranges the boundaries of some judicial circuits across the state and creates new divisions within certain circuits, requiring judges to fill the newly-created divisions.

Six new family court judges will be added, though none in circuits serving the immediate area.

Under the new law, Edmonson County will leave the 38th Judicial District and Circuit, which also comprises Butler, Hancock and Ohio counties, and join Warren County in the 8th Judicial District and Circuit effective Jan. 2.

In its current iteration, the 8th Circuit consists of four circuit judges, but the law calls for a fifth judge to be added to the newly constituted circuit in 2023.

Voters in Warren and Edmonson counties will have a chance to pick the new judge in this November’s election, and two people have thus far announced their intentions to seek the nonpartisan position.

Current 38th District Judge J.B. Hines announced his candidacy Wednesday at Bowling Green Country Club.

Hines, who had filed for reelection for his district judge seat last year and stood unopposed for another term, will withdraw his district court candidacy, complete his term as district judge and file for the new circuit judgeship.

The new law eliminates one of the district court divisions in the 38th District.

A native of Warren County, Hines graduated from Western Kentucky University and earned his law degree from the University of Louisville.

He began his legal career in private practice, eventually relocating to Brownsville with his wife, Shaska Hines, before being elected Edmonson County Attorney in 2014 and then sworn in as district judge in 2017.

“As a judge, I firmly believe that I must be fair and impartial to all before the court, so that changes and remedies may be sought in a civil manner,” Hines said. “I also believe and will ensure that there is access to the courts by all.”

Hines said it would be important as a circuit judge to build public confidence in the court system through basic steps like starting court on time and working through dockets effectively.

Hines’ grandfather was a circuit judge in Warren County, and he said that when was younger, he came away impressed more with how his grandfather treated people who came before his court than with the robe, gavel and other trappings of the job.

“Over the years in private practice and while being on the bench, I remember that every action I take today, every decision I make will carry forward, it can carry over for years and it can carry over for generations,” Hines said.

Dennie Hardin, an attorney in Bowling Green specializing in criminal defense, signaled his intent to run on social media, announcing March 31 on his Facebook page that he would file paperwork in Frankfort to run for the open judgeship once the governor signed HB 214 into law.

The son of a U.S. Army veteran, Hardin grew up in various locales but has family roots in Kentucky.

Hardin served in the U.S. Coast Guard for four years and then was a police officer in Elizabethtown.

It was attending court dates as an officer that Hardin said sparked his interest in practicing law, and he obtained his law degree from Northern Kentucky University in 1999.

“I’ve been going to court pretty much every day of my life for the last 22 years and I’ve had a chance to watch a lot of judges, so I have an idea of how I want to handle a courtroom and deal with cases,” Hardin said.

If elected, Hardin said he would try to continue the legacy and practices of several area judges in front of whom he has argued cases.

“I think a lot of the crime we encounter today is because of substance abuse and mental health issues, and I’d like to focus on treatment as an alternative to incarceration when possible,” Hardin said. “For civil cases, I’ll have a learning curve, but I will certainly work hard to get timely orders out and give everybody a fair hearing and make the best, wisest legal decisions I can.”

Hardin and his wife, Sandy Whittinghill Hardin, are the parents of three adult sons.

Candidates have until June 7 to file for election.

Prior to the new law, Kentucky’s judicial circuits and districts had remained largely untouched since 1976, and statewide redistricting had not occurred since 1893.

The Kentucky Supreme Court issued a number of certifications of necessity dating back to 2020 “to reduce, increase or rearrange” judicial circuits and districts and certify the number of judges needed in each circuit or district.

One such certification issued in December was the first to call for Edmonson County to join Warren County in the 8th District and Circuit.

The redistricting process dates back to 2014, when the General Assembly passed legislation directing the Administrative Office of the Courts to develop a weighted caseload system to help measure and compare judicial caseloads across Kentucky’s circuit, district and family courts.

A judicial workload assessment was conducted, which formed the basis for a realignment that recommended additions and eliminations to circuit and district court divisions and shifted certain judicial boundaries based not on population, but on the caseload in each division.

A statewide redistricting plan was introduced in the General Assembly in 2017, but separate versions filed in the Kentucky Senate and House of Representatives failed to gain passage.

The Kentucky Supreme Court brought a scaled-down redistricting plan to the legislature in 2018 that affected the 10 jurisdictions with the greatest need. That bill, which added family court judges in a few circuits and abolished divisions in two circuits, passed both houses but had no local impact.

Last year, the state Supreme Court certified the need for five changes in the judicial circuits with the greatest need, based on a weighted caseload study conducted by the AOC, but the plan did not pass during the 2021 regular session of the General Assembly.