Brian Privett Reprimanded

Kentucky's Judicial Conduct Commission publicly reprimanded former Circuit Judge Brian Privett for exchanging flirtatious and sexually suggestive text messages with a court employee he did not supervise, beginning in 2018. The Commission found the exchanges included comments on the employee's physical appearance and occurred during multiple conversations — some sent while Privett was actively presiding over court proceedings from the bench. One message cited by the Commission read: "Just noticed your long legs back there. Enjoying court?"

The Commission concluded Privett's conduct violated multiple provisions of the Kentucky Code of Judicial Conduct. Privett, who served as circuit judge for Scott, Woodford, and Bourbon counties, had already resigned in January 2022 for reasons the Commission said were unrelated to this specific misconduct.

Texting a subordinate court employee about her body while actively hearing cases from the bench is a judge treating the courtroom itself as an extension of a personal pursuit — exactly the kind of conduct the Code of Judicial Conduct exists to prevent.