Stephanie Perlow secured her position as the family court judge in Kentucky’s 42nd Judicial Circuit 1st division for Calloway and Marshall counties Tuesday with 68 percent of the vote over Marshall County attorney Ryan Yates.
Perlow received 19,241 votes to Yates’ 9,230. Perlow earned 10,660 votes via Calloway County, while Yates received 4,142 from Calloway County voters.
“I’m here to make families stronger and better,” Perlow said. “I want to do what I can to help with that by being a family court judge. Every thought that I have when I’m not in the courtroom, is centered on reaching out to people, how I can talk to people, let them know about my experience, let them know about why I would best be suited for the job.”
Before Gov. Andy Beshear appointed Perlow in March, she spent 12 years practicing law and has served more than 2,000 family law cases exclusively in Marshall and Calloway counties. Perlow filled the unexpired term of Rob Mattingly, who retired in November 2019.
“This has been a year and a month and a half in the making,” Perlow said. “I knew this was my time, this was my goal, this is something I have dreamed of, I always knew that I was meant for the field of family law.”
Perlow, a Murray attorney specializing in family law, graduated in 2002 from Murray State University. Perlow later earned her law degree from the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley School of Law.
“It feels good that all my hard work towards showing people who I am and what I’m about paid off,” Perlow said. “I look at everything with an open mind, an open heart, open eyes. I want to look at everyone equally when they come into that courtroom… that’s what a judge is supposed to do.”
Perlow said she is passionate about helping the community and is excited to continue serving the families of Calloway and Marshall counties.
Perlow’s opponent, Yates, is a private practice attorney in Marshall County. Yates handles cases involving personal injury, bankruptcy and criminal defense.
Yates started his education at the University of Kentucky and then graduated from the University of Memphis and the Southern Illinois University School of Law. Yates was admitted to the Kentucky Bar Association in 2006.
“We had great support and great voter turnout,” Yates said. “We ran the campaign that we envisioned from the beginning, being that our primary goal was to honor God, honor my family and honor the community. I feel like we did that and I look forward to continuing to aggressively advocate for my clients, not only in family court but in civil, criminal and bankruptcy court.”
According to kycourts.gov, circuit court judges serve eight-year terms and are selected in nonpartisan elections. In the event of a mid-term vacancy such as what happened in this race, the governor may appoint a replacement from candidates recommended by the Kentucky Judicial Nominating Commission.
Family court uses a case management process that distinguishes it from other trial courts. Cases are presented in a single court, allowing the same judge to hear all matters involving a particular family. This reduces the stress that can arise when individuals are shuttled between courts to resolve a variety of issues.
Family court employs full-time judges with the same qualifications as those who serve the other divisions of circuit court.
Besides the family matters heard in circuit court, family court judges also handle family law matters that were traditionally decided in District Court. Family court jurisdiction is defined by KRS 23A.100 and 23A.110.
According to kycourts.gov, Kentucky launched a new project when Jefferson County began a family court pilot program in 1991.
The family court model expanded beyond Louisville to suburban and rural areas across the commonwealth. The project’s success prompted efforts to make family court a permanent part of the Kentucky Constitution. Kentucky voters gave family court a resounding victory in November 2002 when the amendment passed in all 120 counties with more than 75 percent of the vote.
According to kycourts.gov, Kentucky’s family court serves 3.2 million citizens in 71 Kentucky counties and is considered a national model for family courts.
Process box:
Why we covered this story:
We covered this story because it was a relevant election story that pertained to the local area election. People were interested in who won the family circuit court judge seat for this election, especially since Stephanie Perlow was an alum of Murray State.
Who we interviewed:
We interviewed Stephanie Perlow and Ryan Yates over the phone for this story. The questions concerned how the race was won, how the victor planned to spend the first days in office, and why they felt it was important to run for this position.
Who we contacted who does not appear in the story and why:
All parties involved in this story eventually responded to interview requests through phone calls. It was later in the night that the winner of the election, Perlow, called back. But everyone eventually had a chance to voice their statement for the story. Yates called back around 8 pm, and Perow called back around 11:30 pm.
Key decisions we made while reporting this story:
Initially, this story was originally written with both candidates information, backgrounds, quotes/ statements. Only until after a winner was proclaimed, did we change the beginning of the story to conform to the news, which was that the alumn, Perlow, had won her reelection. For extra clarity covering the family circuit court election, we wanted to include several graphs explaining how the court system’s specific election worked. So that people would understand how we came to the conclusion in the story.
The tone used for this story was very factual, so that we wouldn’t have bias towards any one candidate. We wanted to let the candidates’ character show through by their statements.
What about this story might not be evident from reading it?
A lot of mistakes over the election were made in the initial writing and researching for this article, but they were swiftly corrected thanks to the editors at the Murray State News.
What we still don’t know. What about this story is still in process or incomplete?
This story is definitely complete since it was a story covering an election. This election wasn’t close, Perlow had quite a substantial lead in votes, there was no need for a recount, and Yates conceded when it was apparent that he didn’t have enough votes.
Who worked on this story besides the bylined reporter?
The Editors at Murray State News helped tremendously by recommending edits that made the story look and sound more professional. Dr. Leigh Wright also helped a great deal when writing this story, she helped spot crucial errors and helped correct them in time for publication.
This story was labeled as a news story since it covered an election and it wouldn’t make sense to put it in any other category.