On Wednesday, November 19, 2025, the Herald-Leader reported that Pike County Circuit Judge Howard Keith Hall has been reinstated to his judicial position following his acquittal on all charges in a federal fraud trial held in Frankfort. A jury found Hall not guilty on Tuesday after a weeklong trial where he was accused of stealing over $400,000 from the government during his tenure as Pike County attorney.

Hall faced two counts of mail fraud and one count of theft of government funds. The Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission convened late Tuesday night after the verdict and unanimously decided to reinstate Hall to the bench. He will now be one of two judges responsible for presiding over felony cases and major civil cases in Kentucky’s easternmost county.

Judge Eddy Coleman, who serves on the commission and also as chief circuit judge in Pike County alongside Hall, recused himself from the vote regarding the lifting of Hall’s suspension. The suspension was immediately lifted following the commission’s decision.

Guthrie True, a founding partner at True Guarnieri Ayer in Frankfort and Hall’s defense attorney, expressed his relief and happiness for Hall and his family, acknowledging the difficulties they faced since the indictment in April.

The government’s case centered on allegations that Hall conspired with a local attorney to mutually benefit from government funds. The indictment stated that Hall hired a Pikeville personal injury attorney as an assistant during his time as county prosecutor in 2010, allegedly paying him over $440,000 in gross pay and benefits, despite the attorney allegedly performing minimal work for Hall’s office. Furthermore, between 2011 and 2020, Hall allegedly received $505,900 from the same attorney’s office.

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove for the Eastern District of Kentucky previously denied Hall’s motion to dismiss the case in October. Hall argued that the accusations were baseless because Kentucky law does not stipulate a minimum workload for part-time county attorneys. However, Judge Tatenhove ruled that Hall’s motion did not meet the necessary threshold for dismissal, stating that the facts presented in the indictment, if proven, would constitute federal crimes.

County attorneys in Kentucky typically handle lower-level civil and traffic violations in district court, collect delinquent property taxes, enforce child support collections, and represent county legislators. They are also permitted to maintain a private practice.

True argued that the relationship between Howard Keith Hall and the assistant county attorney, Michael Shane Hall, was a legitimate private-practice arrangement. He emphasized that the two attorneys are not related. True highlighted that the government failed to prove that the payments received by Howard Keith Hall were unlawful or derived from fraudulent activities.

True also contextualized Hall’s 2020 election to the circuit judge post within a political framework, noting that the trial included testimony describing the election as highly contested among three local attorneys with significant voter influence.

Hall served as Pike County attorney for 24 years before resigning to assume his role as circuit court judge. He was initially elected as a district court judge in 1992 at the age of 29, making him one of the youngest elected judges in Kentucky at the time. Had he been convicted, Hall could have faced decades in prison, but he chose to prove his innocence in court.

 

 

Source: Herald-Leader