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A RESOLUTION asserting the constitutional authority of the General Assembly 1
with respect to the impeachment power; suspending action on the Articles of 2
Impeachment against Julie Muth Goodman, Circuit Judge for the 22nd Judicial Circuit; 3
and expressing the will of the Senate that the Judicial Conduct Commission conduct 4
public proceedings concerning serious allegations of misconduct in office by Judge 5
Goodman and take appropriate action to sanction and reprimand her, upon a finding of 6
good cause. 7
WHEREAS, Section 66 of the Constitution of Kentucky vests the sole power of 8
impeachment with the House of Representatives; and 9
WHEREAS, Section 67 of the Constitution of Kentu cky provides that all 10
impeachments shall be tried by the Senate; and 11
WHEREAS, Section 68 of the Constitution of Kentucky provides that all civil 12
officers are liable to impeachment for any misdemeanors in office; and 13
WHEREAS, Section 109 of the Judicial Art icle of the Constitution of Kentucky 14
provides, "The impeachment powers of the General Assembly shall remain inviolate"; 15
and 16
WHEREAS, on January 20, 2026, the House Committee on Committees created a 17
House Impeachment Committee and appointed members to revie w citizen petitions filed 18
with the House Clerk; and 19
WHEREAS, on January 28, 2026, the Clerk of the House of Representatives 20
received a petition filed by a private citizen calling for the impeachment of Julie Muth 21
Goodman, Circuit Judge for the 22nd Judicia l Circuit, and identifying six cases that 22
alleged abuses of both judicial discretion and authority; and 23
WHEREAS, the petition filed regarding Judge Goodman was referred to the House 24
Impeachment Committee on January 29, 2026; and 25
WHEREAS, on January 30, 2026, the House Impeachment Committee transmitted 26
a letter to Judge Goodman providing a copy of the petition and providing her the 27
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opportunity to respond to the petition; and 1
WHEREAS, on January 30, 2026, the House Impeachment Commi ttee inquired of 2
the Judicial Conduct Commission as to any ongoing investigations of Judge Goodman, 3
and on February 3, 2026, the Judicial Conduct Commission informed the House 4
Impeachment Committee that it declined to provide any information; and 5
WHEREAS, on February 23, 2026, Judge Goodman, through her counsel, 6
transmitted a written response to the petition to the House Impeachment Committee; and 7
WHEREAS, following the response, the House Impeachment Committee 8
designated March 16, 2026, as a hearing date; and 9
WHEREAS, notice of the hearing was provided to Judge Goodman and 10
acknowledged by her counsel on March 3, 2026; and 11
WHEREAS, the House Impeachment Committee heard testimony on March 16, 12
2026, from Judge Goodman and her attorneys; from Kimberly Baird, Es q., the 13
Commonwealth's attorney for the 22nd Judicial Circuit; and from Doug Botkin, the 14
surviving spouse of the victim killed when a vehicle driven by Cornell Thomas collided 15
with the victim's vehicle; and 16
WHEREAS, the House Impeachment Committee independ ently reviewed various 17
statements and actions made by Judge Goodman in conjunction with the testimony the 18
committee received during the hearing on March 16, 2026; and 19
WHEREAS, acting on its own judgment and authority, the House Impeachment 20
Committee found that Judge Goodman committed misdemeanors in office, constituting a 21
reasonable basis upon which to recommend that Judge Goodman be impeached and 22
removed from office; and 23
WHEREAS, in previous impeachment proceedings of a member of the Judicial 24
Branch, the House has deferred action to allow the Judicial Conduct Commission to 25
proceed; and 26
WHEREAS, the chair of the House Impeachment Committee filed and introduced 27
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House Resolution 124 in the House of Representatives on March 18, 2026, including 1
Articles of Impeachment against Judge Julie Muth Goodman; and 2
WHEREAS, House Resolution 124 was adopted by the House of Representatives 3
on March 20, 2026, by a bipartisan vote of 73-14; and 4
WHEREAS, pursuant to House Resolution 124, the Speaker of the House of 5
Representatives appointed a committee to prosecute the Articles of Impeachment before 6
the Senate; and 7
WHEREAS, pursuant to House Resolution 124, the chair of the committee 8
appointed to prosecute the Articles of Impeachment did lay the Articles before the 9
Senate; and 10
WHEREAS, the Senate received the Articles of Impeachment and, on March 27, 11
2026, adopted Senate Resolution 200, thereby resolving itself into a Court of 12
Impeachment for the purpose of hearing the impeachment and adopting Rules Governing 13
the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky Sitting as a Court of Impeachment; and 14
WHEREAS, despite numerous authorities holding that the Kentucky Supreme 15
Court does not have the authority to use a supervisory writ to control the General 16
Assembly's plenary power over impeach ment, the Supreme Court nonetheless issued 17
such a writ by its Opinion and Order; and 18
WHEREAS, despite the fact that no member of the Senate was a party to the 19
litigation instituted by Judge Goodman, the Supreme Court nonetheless purported to 20
enjoin the General Assembly from any further proceedings regarding the impeachment of 21
Judge Goodman and purported to order the General Assembly to dismiss the 22
impeachment against her; and 23
WHEREAS, despite numerous authorities holding that the power of impeachment 24
is solely given to the legislative branch of government to act as a constitutional check on 25
the executive and judicial branches of government, the Supreme Court nonetheless 26
attempted to usurp the General Assembly's power of impeachment by declaring in its 27
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Opinion and Order that House Resolution 124 and the impeachment proceedings against 1
Judge Goodman were void ab initio; and 2
WHEREAS, despite numerous authorities holding that the constitution reserves to 3
the General Assembly the power to determine what constitut es an impeachable offense, 4
and that any determination by the General Assembly in that regard is a non -justiciable 5
political question, the Supreme Court nonetheless concluded in its Opinion and Order, 6
without the benefit of a full record or briefing, that i t alone could decide that the 7
allegations against Judge Goodman did not rise to the level of a misdemeanor in office 8
under the Constitution of Kentucky; and 9
WHEREAS, despite numerous authorities holding that judges are subject to 10
impeachment for not only c riminal conduct but also for abuses in office, including the 11
specific Kentucky precedent of the 1916 impeachment of County Judge J.E. Williams, 12
the Supreme Court nonetheless declared in its Opinion and Order that the power to 13
govern non-criminal conduct of judges within the Commonwealth of Kentucky related to 14
their office is vested solely within the Judicial Conduct Commission created under 15
Section 121 of the Constitution of Kentucky; and 16
WHEREAS, the opinion of the Supreme Court confirmed that Judge Goodma n is 17
currently under investigation by the Judicial Conduct Commission; and 18
WHEREAS, since the publication of the Supreme Court's opinion on April 6, 2026, 19
the Senate has received anecdotal evidence of the chilling impact on the public's right to 20
address problems with the judicial branch as well as fears of potential retaliation; 21
NOW, THEREFORE, 22
Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of 23
Kentucky: 24
Section 1. In reliance on the Kentucky Supreme Court's disclosure that the 25
Judicial Conduct Commission is currently investigating Judge Julie Muth Goodman's 26
conduct, the Senate of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky 27
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suspends action on the Article s of Impeachment against Judge Goodman without 1
deciding whether her conduct constitutes misdemeanors in office warranting her 2
conviction and removal from office. 3
Section 2. The Judicial Conduct Commission should immediat ely conduct open 4
and public proceedings concerning serious allegations of misconduct by Julie Muth 5
Goodman, Circuit Judge for the 22nd Judicial Circuit, consisting of Fayette County, 6
including but not limited to allegations that Judge Goodman abused the po wers of the 7
office she holds; defied binding precedents established by the highest courts of this 8
Commonwealth; defied statutes enacted by the General Assembly; defied rules of the 9
Kentucky Court of Justice; and interfered with the rights and powers of the grand jury, 10
trial court jurors, attorneys, and others to perform their respective roles within the 11
Kentucky Court of Justice. 12
Section 3. Upon a finding of good cause, the Judicial Conduct Commission 13
should take all appr opriate action to publicly sanction and reprimand Julie Muth 14
Goodman, up to and including removing her from her position as Circuit Judge for the 15
22nd Judicial Circuit, consisting of Fayette County. 16
Section 4. Following the date on which the 2026 Regular Session of the General 17
Assembly adjourns sine die, the Director of the Legislative Research Commission is 18
hereby directed to collect all materials from the Clerks of the Senate and the House of 19
Representatives related to the impeachment of Judge Goodman, and forward copies of 20
those materials to the Judicial Conduct Commission for its review. 21
Section 5. The Director of the Legislative Research Commission is also directed 22
to maintain the o riginal of all materials related to the impeachment of Judge Goodman 23
during the 2026 Regular Session of the General Assembly for the reference, 24
consideration, or action by any future General Assembly. 25
Section 6. The suspension of proceedings at this time does not constitute a 26
decision or judgment on the House of Representatives' Articles of Impeachment against 27
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Judge Goodman, nor does it constitute any relinquishing of the right to do so under the 1
proper circumstances in the future. 2
Section 7. The Senate of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of 3
Kentucky declares that this resolution shall not be deemed an acquittal as that term is 4
used in KRS 63.070(2). 5