GOP Attorney Announces Campaign Against Judge Shepherd

Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd will have a contested race in 2022 for the judgeship he has held since 2006.

Joe Bilby, the lead attorney for Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles and the Department of Agriculture, has announced a campaign for the Franklin Circuit Court.

“I believe a judge should always follow the law, and that’s what I intend to do,” Bilby said in a news release. “For far too long, Judge Phillip Shepherd has failed to follow the law. It is past time for a change of personnel in that courtroom. I look forward to talking with voters about how I will follow the law, without fear or favor, and how the current officeholder has failed to meet the standard.”

Bilby is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, he deployed to Iraq in 2005 and to the Pacific in 2006. He has served the Kentucky Department of Agriculture as its general counsel since 2016.