FRANKFORT, Ky. – A three-judge panel of the Kentucky Court of Appeals will hear an oral argument in the civil case of Claxon v. Board of Education of Greenup County at 10:00 am on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at the new Carlisle County Judicial Center in Bardwell, Kentucky.  The proceeding is open to the public. 

The panel includes Judge Irv Maze, of Louisville, who will preside, along with Judges Shea Nickell and Donna Dixon, of Paducah.  The oral argument will mark the first occasion an appellate court has held session in Carlisle County’s new judicial facility.  

The appeal concerns issues relating to demotion of a central office school administrator to a lower paying classroom teaching position by the Superintendent and Board of Education.  The appellant administrator is represented by attorneys Arthur L. Brooks and JoEllen S. McComb, of Lexington.  The school board is represented by attorney James W. Lyon, Jr., of Greenup. 

Judge Nickell noted that the Court of Appeals has rarely, if ever, held a session in Carlisle County, and was pleased the event will allow local citizens, students and attorneys a rare educational opportunity to observe an appellate court in far western Kentucky.  Typically, appeals are heard in Frankfort or Louisville, but panels occasionally travel throughout the state to hear cases elsewhere, particularly to save costs to the court system or the parties involved in the litigation. 

Nearly all cases heard by the Kentucky Court of Appeals come to it on appeal from a lower court.  If a case is tried in Circuit Court or District Court and the losing parties are not satisfied with the outcome, they may ask for a higher court to review the correctness of the trial court’s decision.  Some cases, such as criminal case acquittals and divorces, may not be appealed.  In a divorce case, however, child custody and property rights decisions may be appealed.  Cases are not retried in the Court of Appeals.  Only the record of the original court trial is reviewed, with attorneys presenting the legal issues to the court for a decision. 

Fourteen judges, two elected from each of the seven appellate court districts, serve on the Court of Appeals.  The judges are divided into panels of three to review and decide cases, with the majority determining the decision.  The judges are rotated among various panels so that they serve with all other judges at some point throughout the year.