Kentucky Court of Appeals Judges Taylor Lambert and K. Thompson ruled Tuesday — one week before the state’s primary election — that Ben Dusing is again a bona fide candidate for Kenton County family court judge.
An April ruling in the Kenton Circuit Court decided that any votes cast for Dusing would not count because he was not a licensed attorney. That ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by Brian Halloran, saying if Dusing was not a licensed attorney, he should not be allowed to run for judge.
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Dusing then filed a motion to dismiss, saying he does not need to be licensed at the time of the election, as long as he is licensed by the time he is sworn in.
“Dusing asserts the circuit court erred in concluding that he must presently possess the qualifications necessary to constitute a bona fide candidate for the office of circuit court judge, family division,” the ruling reads. “Having carefully reviewed the law, we agree.”
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“It’s victory for the rule of law in Kenton County,” Dusing said Tuesday. “It was a correct application of the law.”
Halloran said Tuesday after the decision came down that he doesn’t agree with it.
“I think it’s wrong,” he said. “I think they’re wrong. I’ll talk to our legislators and figure out what their take on it is and see if there’s something we can do down the road to close these loopholes.”
Halloran said he doesn’t think Dusing will win.
“He’s sent out one mailer, he hasn’t raised any money,” Halloran said. “I think it was more for publicity and ego than anything, but we will see. If the voters want to vote for him, they can now.”
Terri King Schoborg is one of two candidates running against Dusing in the primary, along with Carl Knochelmann, Jr.
“I have run my campaign as a contested primary, so the fact that Dusing’s votes will be counted is inconsequential,” King Schoborg told LINK on Tuesday.
