Kentucky judge awaiting a federal bench seat faces three misconduct charges over how he treated a lawyer

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 11) — A Kentucky judge whom President Donald Trump nominated to the federal bench is facing three misconduct charges from the state's Judicial Conduct Commission, all tied to a short video a defense attorney posted from his courtroom last year.

Daniel Ballou is chief judge of the 34th Judicial Circuit, which covers McCreary and Whitley counties. Trump picked him in August to replace U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove, who left the Eastern District of Kentucky in July to become dean of the University of Kentucky's law school, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. The Senate hasn't confirmed him.

The commission filed formal proceedings on Oct. 23, and the paperwork became public Tuesday. It centers on attorney Kerri Bartley, who in August 2025 posted a video filmed before court was in session in the McCreary County courtroom. It showed portraits of past judges, with a caption about being stuck in a "musty courtroom" surrounded by pictures of "old (white) male judges."

According to the commission, Ballou ordered Bartley to appear in a client's unrelated criminal case without saying why. When she showed up in September 2025 and apologized, he cut her off, asked where she went to law school and told her she "might want to look into a refund," LEX18 reported. The third charge says he had already drafted and signed an order barring her from bringing phones, computers or other recording devices into the McCreary and Whitley courthouses before she ever got to speak.

The commission says that conduct broke rules requiring judges to be impartial, patient, dignified and courteous. The Herald-Leader reported that others in the courtroom were visibly using their phones during the exchange.

Ballou filed a response Monday asking the commission to dismiss the case. He argues he was keeping order in his courtroom, where filming and devices are banned, and that the most any finding should bring is an admonishment, WKYT reported. The commission can dismiss a case, issue sanctions or remove a judge from the bench. No hearing date has been set.

The charges are allegations, not findings. It isn't Ballou's first brush with the commission: it publicly reprimanded him in 2011 over a 2010 email about a U.S. Senate campaign, something he acknowledged to senators in written answers this fall.