'Insult to the process.' Judge who wouldn't hear gay adoptions skips disciplinary hearing.

BY GREG KOCHER
gkocher1@herald-leader.com

DECEMBER 15, 2017 03:11 PM

UPDATED DECEMBER 15, 2017 10:28 PM

A judge did not attend a Friday hearing to answer charges that he violated ethics rules when he objected to handling adoption cases involving gay parents.

Neither W. Mitchell Nance, family court judge for Barren and Metcalfe counties, nor his attorneys attended a hearing of the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission in Lexington.

Nance had announced in October that he would resign effective Saturday night. Nance’s attorneys asked the commission to dismiss the case given his decision to resign.

But Steve Woltnizek, chairman of the commission, said “Whether Judge Nance appears or not, we are required to conduct a hearing.”

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https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/fayette-county/article190024869.html