Wethington announces resignation as circuit judge

Yahoo

01-03-2025

Daviess Circuit Judge Jay Wethington, who was Commonwealth's Attorney before becoming a judge in 2007, resigned from the bench as of Friday.
With Wethington's retirement, the Administrative Office of the Courts can begin the process of filling the Division I seat for the rest of Wethington's term. The process calls for the Administrative Office of the Courts to appoint a nominating commission which will take applications and forward recommendations to the governor for an appointment.
Whoever is chosen will have to run for election in 2026.
Wethington suffered an injury from a fall in March of 2024, and Wethington's division has been covered by other judges since.
In a letter submitted to state Chief Justice Debra Hambree Lambert, Wethington said while he was hoping for full recovery, 'my expectations and hopes were too high,' and that he is currently 'unable to resume my duties as circuit judge to the extent I know the position requires ...'
While Wethington said Friday his health has improved since the accident, he is looking forward to traveling with his wife in the future.
The decision to resign was difficult, he said.
'Not because of my injury, but in my heart it was a hard decision to make, because I liked it, I was good at it, and people responded to things I wanted to do,' Wethington said.
'There's more to it than sitting on the bench,' Wethington said.
Wethington, a former Atlanta Constitution reporter, started his law career in private practice before being hired as an assistant commonwealth's attorney by then Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Castlen.
'We go way back. We were friends even in grade school,' Castlen, who is now a retired Circuit judge, said. Later, he said, 'Our careers have paralleled one another over the years.
'He's a good attorney and he's a good person,' Castlen said. When Castlen became Circuit Judge and Wethington became commonwealth's attorney, Wethington was an strong supporter of the creation of a drug court program, Castlen said.
'I'm not so sure, when I was Commonwealth's Attorney, if I would have been as receptive' to the idea of Drug Court, Castlen said. 'But Jay was very supportive and got on board ... He knew the alternatives that needed to be explored for people with substance abuse.'
Wethington said the prosecutor is an important part of Drug Court, because prosecutors have to agree to send a defendant to the court-monitored substance abuse program. People in drug court receive substance abuse treatment and services, with the court monitoring their progress.
Wethington, who later presided over Drug Court after becoming a circuit judge, said 'Drug Court has been good for me as a judge.'
'My first attitude was, 'if you miss up, you're going to prison,' ' Wethington said. But Wethington learned that addicts will relapse.
Drug Court, 'helped me understand about addiction,' Wethington said.
Wethington said some of the cases he handled as Commonwealth's Attorney that created new state law. For example, a local case that rose through the appeal process resulted in the justices ruling that a person could be found guilty of homicide if they supplied drugs to a person who died.
Another case, which Wethington handled as a special prosecutor, made law when the Supreme Court ruled commonwealth's attorneys also had a right to appeal in criminal cases. Wethington argued the case before the Supreme Court.
Wethington said his judicial philosophy was 'to stay out of the way.'
'(Judges) call balls and strikes,' Wethington said. Later, he said, 'The hardest thing for me was to shut up and let the lawyers win or lose their case. They know the case better than you, so stay out of it.'
State Court of Appeals Judge Lisa Payne Jones was hired by Wethington to be an assistant commonwealth's attorney when Wethington ran the CWA's office.
'He helped me get litigation experience under my belt,' Jones said.
'He took the mentor role,' Jones said, and that, 'he guided me on buying a house. He didn't just care about you as a lawyer, he cares about you as a person.'
Retired Daviess Circuit Judge Joe Castlen, who was Division II judge for years while Wethington was in Division I, said, 'I always liked Jay being on the other end of the hall' at the judicial center.
'I could always ask his opinion,' Joe Castlen said. 'We always confided on different matters, and it was great to have a good working relationship like that.'
Wethington said, as a prosecutor, 'I didn't care about wins and losses, because that's not the point of the job. The job is justice.'