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Kentucky Governor Wants 'Hack' Judge Gone From Pension Case

AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin wants a judge he calls an "incompetent hack" removed from a case challenging the state's new pension law.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the Republican governor wants a special judge to hear Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear's legal challenge to the law. Bevin's lawyers asked the Kentucky Supreme Court's chief justice to remove Franklin Circuit Court Judge Philip Shepherd, saying his future eligibility to receive a judicial pension represents a conflict of interest.

The filing argues that judges who took office after Jan. 1, 2014, don't have traditional defined-benefits pensions and wouldn't have the same conflict.

Shepherd previously rejected Bevin's request to disqualify himself, saying the governor's reasoning stretches the concept of conflict of interest.

Beshear said in a statement that Bevin was trying to prevent a hearing.