By AP
Frankfort, KY – The state's chief justice is setting up a citizens' panel to monitor judicial races.
Joseph Lambert says he hopes the panel will restrain judicial candidates from running negative campaigns.
More than 200 races are on tap next year for judgeships in kentucky.
The special panel being set up by Lambert will include 12 to 15 citizens. The move comes after recent federal court decisions that said judicial candidates can express their opinions in campaigns.
Lambert has asked Tony Wilhoit of Versailles to head the panel, which is called "The Judicial Campaign Conduct Committe". Wilhoit is executive director of the state legislative ethics commissions and is a former chief judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals.