Once the youngest district judge in the state of Kentucky, Jeff Choate holds a large degree of influence on the lives of the people who come before him. He handles the 40th District serving Clinton, Wayne and Russell counties.
Most of his cases are traffic violations, DUI, public intoxication and domestic disputes. District judges handle only offenses that carry up to a $1,000 fine or one-year maximum jail sentence.
A typical day begins at 5:30a.m. when Choate awakens and begins getting himself and his two sons, Mathew, 7, and Tyler, 16 months, ready for school.
His wife, Robin, who works nights as a registered nurse at a local hospital, comes home around 7:15 a.m. just in time to say goodbye.
Choate says one of his biggest concerns is the welfare of juvenile offenders who come before him. Some of them are only a few years older than his son Mathew. Many are the sons or daughters of adults who also were fined or sentenced to jail in Choate’ s courtroom.
Whenever he can, Choate tries to make a lasting impression on the child in hope that he can break a cycle of crime and poverty that holds a grip on some families for generation after generation.
