Frazier finds passion in public service

When he was a young lawyer, Tyler Frazier didn’t pic­ture him­self wear­ing a black robe and sit­ting at the front of the court­room, mak­ing deci­sions that would affect people’s lives. But that is where he is now in his career and where he wants to be. 

“It’s the hon­or of a life­time to serve in this role,” he said. 

Frazier, 37, is the chief dis­trict judge for the 25^th Judicial District, which con­sists of Clark and Madison counties. 

He was appoint­ed dis­trict judge by Gov. Andy Beshear last year after District Judge Charles W. Hardin announced his retire­ment in December 2024. 

In February, his fel­low dis­trict judges, Earl-Ray Neal and Robert Jennings, select­ed him to be chief dis­trict judge for the 25^th. 

Now, after a decade of serv­ing in appoint­ed offices, he is seek­ing elect­ed office for the first time, run­ning for his first full term as dis­trict judge in the 1^st Division. 

His only oppo­nent is Darrian Botts of Madison County, who works in Winchester. 

Neal and Jennings are also up for re-elec­tion, but each is unopposed. 

A native of Madison County, Frazier is the first in his fam­i­ly to pur­sue a legal career.  His inter­est began when he and his broth­er par­tic­i­pat­ed in mock tri­al as students. 

“I got to know the court­room . . . and real­ly enjoyed that,” he said. 

Frazier worked in his family’s con­struc­tion busi­ness while at Madison Central High School and worked in radio while earn­ing his bachelor’s degree in telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions from the University of Kentucky. After grad­u­at­ing from UK, he earned his law degree from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University in 2014, and came home to Richmond to serve as assis­tant commonwealth’s attor­ney under David Smith. 

“I pros­e­cut­ed felony cas­es in both coun­ties,” he said, and from there he did a brief stint in pri­vate prac­tice, rep­re­sent­ing crim­i­nal defendants. 

While with Eaves, Olds, Bohannon & Floyd, he was appoint­ed Richmond’s city attor­ney, and held that job until he was named dis­trict judge in 2025. 

“I now have over 10 years of pub­lic ser­vice, and it’s real­ly been a pas­sion,” Frazier said. “I enjoy what I do, and I feel that I’m help­ing people.” 

“District court is where the rub­ber meets the road,” he said. “Most peo­ple, when they inter­act with the court­room or the judi­cial sys­tem, it’s in dis­trict court.” 

That could involve any­thing from speed­ing tick­ets to pro­bate cases. 

It’s the lev­el of court with the most direct con­tact with the peo­ple, and the one where Frazier feels he can have the biggest impact. 

As for becom­ing a judge, how­ev­er, “I don’t know how it hap­pened,” he said half-jok­ing­ly. “I nev­er saw myself as being a judge. I didn’t expect that. But the vacan­cy became avail­able, and I was encour­aged by my peers and the bar to apply.” 

And he has found it to be rewarding. 

In cir­cuit court cas­es, the jury deter­mines the facts and the judge deter­mines how the law should apply. But in dis­trict court, the judge often is also the find­er of facts. 

In a bench tri­al, Frazier said, a judge must lis­ten care­ful­ly to both sides, study the case, judge the cred­i­bil­i­ty of wit­ness­es, and ulti­mate­ly, decide who has the con­vinc­ing argument. 

“You check all your bias­es at the door, and you check all facts that are pre­sent­ed,” he said. “It’s a hard thing to be a judge in your home­town, where you know a lot of people.” 

It’s “extreme­ly hard” in cas­es involv­ing young defen­dants, said Frazier, who han­dles the district’s juve­nile dock­et. “It tugs at your heartstrings.” 

Frazier recent­ly had the oppor­tu­ni­ty and respon­si­bil­i­ty to issue a his­toric rul­ing asso­ci­at­ed with a domes­tic vio­lence case in which he held that the victim’s last name could be changed posthu­mous­ly after an act of vio­lence by her abuser had tak­en her life. According to an op-ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader by state Rep. Vanessa Grossl, R‑Georgetown, the name change is believed to be the first of its kind in Kentucky. For decades the law assumed that the peti­tion­er would be alive to sign the court doc­u­ments need­ed for a name change, but it failed to take into account that a deceased vic­tim would be bound by her last name to her abuser. Grossl intends to file leg­is­la­tion in 2027 to cod­i­fy posthu­mous name changes into law. 

Frazier was asked: Given that the judge is so close to the peo­ple and must be impar­tial, should judge­ships be elect­ed positions? 

“That’s a good ques­tion, and I don’t know the answer,” he said. “I think, cer­tain­ly, there’s a lot of mer­it to the peo­ple hav­ing some­one that they select . . . some­one they trust, and I believe it’s impor­tant that the cit­i­zens trust the judge.” 

Therefore, elec­tions may be the best sys­tem for vet­ting a judge, but there is also some­thing to be said for hav­ing the respect of oth­er lawyers in being appoint­ed, he said. 

In some states, gov­er­nors choose judges from a list of can­di­dates made by a judi­cial nom­i­nat­ing com­mis­sion of attor­neys, which is also how vacan­cies are tem­porar­i­ly filled in Kentucky. 

Frazier was asked to describe his judi­cial philosophy. 

“I would describe myself as unbi­ased and car­ing,” he said. “I take great pride in tak­ing the total­i­ty of the cir­cum­stances, where the defen­dants, the plain­tiffs are in their lives, their cir­cum­stances and the facts of the case. I have com­pas­sion for every­one involved, includ­ing the defen­dants, but I do have a pas­sion for jus­tice and for fol­low­ing the law.” 

There may be times, he said, when what is legal may not seem to be what is equi­table, as in cas­es involv­ing forcible retain­ers and evictions. 

“I see very hard cir­cum­stances for peo­ple, and often­times through no fault of their own. . . . However, the law is clear,” he said. 

Having been a pros­e­cu­tor, a defense attor­ney, and a judge, Frazier has seen the judi­cial sys­tem from every angle. 

“I believe my expe­ri­ence makes me the ide­al can­di­date,” he said. 

But in addi­tion to hav­ing expe­ri­ence, it’s impor­tant to have the right tem­pera­ment, Frazier said. A good judge must be patient and a good listener. 

“Because often­times, peo­ple before the court have trou­ble com­mu­ni­cat­ing their posi­tion, and so it takes patience and a keen ear to under­stand someone’s posi­tion,” he explained. 

Asked whether his view of the judi­cia­ry has changed, Frazier said he doesn’t believe it has, although he appre­ci­ates the role more. 

“As a pros­e­cu­tor, I always under­stood the role of the judge,” he said. “However, to be in that role is very eye-opening.” 

Frazier’s mother’s fam­i­ly has a tra­di­tion of teach­ing in Madison County, and his mom retired as the district’s assis­tant super­in­ten­dent and chief finan­cial officer. 

The judge and his wife, Nicole, have two chil­dren, Katie, 4, and Liam, 9 months.