Nominees named for family court seat

Published 7:00 am Thursday, December 4, 2025

Three Bowling Green attorneys are under consideration for a vacant Warren Circuit Family Court judgeship.

Announced Tuesday, the nominees for the vacancy in the 8th Judicial Circuit, Family Division 3 are Dick Downey, Ashlea Shepherd and Rebecca Simpson.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear will select from the three nominees within 60 days of receiving the list.

The three nominees were selected by the Judicial Nominating Commission, a seven-person group comprised of Kentucky Chief Justice Debra Hembree Lambert, two local attorneys elected by their fellow attorneys in the circuit and four non-attorneys who live in the circuit and were appointed by the governor.

Whoever is appointed to the judgeship will complete the unexpired term of former Judge David Lanphear, who retired from the bench at the end of September.

A Franklin native who earned his law degree from the University of Kentucky, Downey has prior experience as a family court judge, having been appointed in 2014 to complete the unexpired term of the late Judge Margaret Huddleston.

Downey did not seek election to a full term and retired from the bench in 2015.

Shepherd is a 2006 graduate of Western Kentucky University and also studied law at the University of Kentucky, and currently practices family law, personal injury and civil litigation with The Simpson Firm.

Simpson graduated from Western Kentucky University and from the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville with honors.

She began her legal career in Louisville before returning to Bowling Green, practicing family law with Kentucky Legal Aid before joining the Bowling Green law firm English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley in 2016.