Botts cites private practice in judicial race

Before she was admit­ted to the bar, Darrian Botts was already think­ing about the bench. 

“I had some ear­ly expe­ri­ences in the court­room and kind of saw the role that judges play in soci­ety, and it was cer­tain­ly a path that I want­ed to be part of one day,” she said in a recent interview. 

This year’s elec­tion offers her a chance to ful­fill that goal. 

Botts, of Richmond, who has been a lawyer for White, McCann & Stewart of Winchester for five years, is a can­di­date for dis­trict judge in the 25^th District, which includes Clark and Madison counties. 

She is chal­leng­ing Judge Tyler Frazier for the Division 1 seat, to which he was appoint­ed by Gov. Andy Beshear after Judge Charles Hardin retired in December 2024. Botts was one of three final­ists for the appoint­ment, so the gen­er­al elec­tion is a rematch, with vot­ers decid­ing this time. 

While Frazier has been a pros­e­cu­tor, crim­i­nal defense attor­ney, and Richmond city attor­ney, Botts believes the breadth of her pri­vate prac­tice expe­ri­ence makes her the bet­ter candidate. 

“My prac­tice has includ­ed crim­i­nal mat­ters, civ­il dis­putes, land­lord-ten­ant cas­es, pro­bate and guardian­ship mat­ters, fam­i­ly law issues, con­tracts, real estate, insur­ance mat­ters and rep­re­sent­ing small busi­ness­es,” she wrote in a state­ment. “That range of prac­ti­cal expe­ri­ence has taught me not only to have a deep appre­ci­a­tion and respect for the rule of law, but has also fos­tered an under­stand­ing of the pro­found impact that judi­cial deci­sions can have on the lives of many, their liveli­hoods, and com­mu­ni­ty safety.” 

Botts has prac­ticed in 17 coun­ties and rep­re­sent­ed clients in dis­trict, cir­cuit, and appel­late courts. One case she han­dled through appeal — which involved the ques­tion of whether a guardian was required to be appoint­ed in an uncon­test­ed divorce in which an indi­vid­ual was incar­cer­at­ed — result­ed in a pub­lished Kentucky Court of Appeals decision. 

Botts, 30, grew up in Richmond, where she attend­ed Eastern Kentucky University’s Model Laboratory School from preschool through high school. 

She grad­u­at­ed sum­ma cum laude from EKU in 2018 with a major in crim­i­nal jus­tice and a minor in psy­chol­o­gy. While at Eastern, she was a Division I track-and-field ath­lete, a mem­ber of the Phi Kappa Phi hon­or soci­ety, and a recip­i­ent of a num­ber of ath­let­ic and aca­d­e­m­ic awards. 

She earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Kentucky’s J. David Rosenberg College of Law in 2021. 

In 2019, Botts began work­ing for White, McCann & Stewart as a law clerk, and has remained with the firm since then. She also clerked for the EKU Office of University Counsel while in law school and for Fayette District Judge Melissa Murphy. 

During her time at EKU, she also worked as an opto­met­ric tech­ni­cian, and she has been a mar­tial arts instruc­tor for 11 years. 

This is her first time as a can­di­date for any pub­lic office, but she has been com­mit­ted to pub­lic ser­vice. She’s been involved with the Junior League of Lexington, YMCA Achievers of Richmond, the Richmond Rotary Club, the Richmond branch of the NAACP, and serves on the board of direc­tors of the Madison County Community Fund. 

“I pride myself on giv­ing back to the com­mu­ni­ty,” Botts said. “My goal in life . . . is to leave the world a lit­tle bet­ter than I found it,” and that is what moti­vat­ed her deci­sion to be a can­di­date for judge. 

Botts said she was influ­enced to pur­sue a legal career by fam­i­ly mem­bers and friends who are lawyers. 

“It’s some­thing that I had want­ed to do most of my life,” she said. 

As for mak­ing the move from advo­cate to judge, Botts said, it seemed to her the tim­ing was right for her, and the oppor­tu­ni­ty pre­sent­ed itself. 

Botts said “the most beau­ti­ful thing in a democ­ra­cy” is the right to choose, and she and her oppo­nent offer “dif­fer­ent back­grounds, pro­fes­sion­al­ly” in this election. 

She does not think Kentucky state judges should be appoint­ed as they are in some oth­er states and at the fed­er­al lev­el. She also believes can­di­dates should not rep­re­sent polit­i­cal par­ties because “par­ti­san­ship does not belong in the courtroom.” 

Botts said dis­trict court is usu­al­ly the public’s “first point of con­tact” with the judi­cial sys­tem. She has had clients come to her and say, “I’ve nev­er been in trou­ble a day in my life,” or that they have nev­er before had a legal issue. 

Botts said a judge’s role is “the equi­table appli­ca­tion of the rule of law,” and it is his or her place to make sure that when lit­i­gants leave the court­room, “they feel like they had an oppor­tu­ni­ty to be heard and respect­ed, whether they win or not.” 

Asked what char­ac­ter­is­tics make a good judge, Botts answered: “For me, it’s about patience and integri­ty, and being able to be firm, but also to bal­ance that with com­pas­sion and understanding.” 

It also requires “a lev­el of humil­i­ty,” she added, because the dis­trict judge “may not be an expert” about some things, such as work issues or sub­stance abuse. 

Asked how she would han­dle a sit­u­a­tion in which what is legal may not seem to be the same as what is just, Botts said that “the law is going to con­trol,” but there are sit­u­a­tions where judi­cial dis­cre­tion comes into play. 

“We’re not in the busi­ness of mak­ing law because we’re not leg­is­la­tors. But to the extent that the leg­is­la­tors have pro­vid­ed the oppor­tu­ni­ty to exer­cise dis­cre­tion, I think there are cer­tain­ly times and places to do just that,” she said. 

Botts is sin­gle and has no chil­dren, but likes spend­ing time with her fam­i­ly and friends and her Doberman, T’Challa. She also enjoys work­ing out and has been involved in mar­tial arts since she was four years old.