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The path to the law wasn’t always a clear one for Wells Circuit Judge Kenton Kiracofe.
“I was kinda unsure what I wanted to do and had a clearer idea that I wanted to be in law enforcement, so I started the path of a criminal justice degree,” Kiracofe said of his undergraduate days.
From there, it was an internship in Washington, D.C., that pointed him toward the legal field.
“That was interesting at the time, so I started looking at a master’s program in the chain of law enforcement but not necessarily as a police officer,” Kiracofe said. “And then I sort of asked around different people who were there and one of them suggested law school and then I kind of thought, ‘Well, what would I do with that and why would I get that versus a master’s degree?’ Once I started to explore the LSAT I kind of opened my eyes up to being a prosecutor and (was) just kind of fascinated by it and got hooked and went to law school with that as my goal.”
Kiracofe eventually enrolled in the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and was admitted to the Indiana bar in 2002.
True to his goal, he worked as a prosecutor and as a partner at Carnall Myers & Kiracofe before being appointed to the Wells Circuit Court bench by Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2011, succeeding the late Judge David L. Hanselman Sr., who had resigned in February of that year. Kiracofe went on to win election in 2012 and reelection in 2018.
Kiracofe is the latest trial judge to be featured in Indiana Lawyer’s Spotlight series, which profiles judges in more rural communities. Here’s what he had to say about life on and off the bench:
Where is your hometown?
I grew up outside of Fort Wayne in a town called New Haven. Actually, even outside of that, kind of a rural area of Allen County. But I went to New Haven High School.
Where did you go for your undergraduate degree?
My undergraduate degree was in criminal justice. I went to Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Did you know you wanted to go to law school?
I did not know. I was probably not the best student in high school and didn’t really have a lot of direction. Well, in college, I got a chance to do an internship in my last year in Washington, D.C., with the Justice Department through a program with public and federal affairs. It was interesting and kind of opened my eyes to maybe considering looking to maybe getting a master’s degree or something else.
What drew you to Wells County?
Well, growing up in the Fort Wayne area, and my wife had family in the area. My plan coming out of law school was always to come back to Fort Wayne. My last semester I worked as a certified intern in the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, wanting to be a prosecutor in Allen County. When I was looking for a job, they weren’t hiring at the moment, and then I saw an opening in Wells County. The prosecutor here had a part-time prosecutor and part-time civil practice position. And so I applied, got that and thought initially, maybe we would just stay for a few years and eventually move. Here we are 20, almost 21, years later. It was a good fit because I didn’t have my kids at that point, and it just worked out to have that small-town kind of work-life balance. I liked having a civil practice, and it just kind of blossomed from there.
What is something you enjoy about being a judge?
Well, since I’m in a small community, I have a wide docket. I have all the juvenile cases here, in addition to a lot of other types of cases. I think I get a pretty big view of how those cases all kind of fit together, like parents that I have in criminal court might have a (child in need of services) case. We don’t have a problem-solving court, primarily because of our size to support it, but we can do some of those things. It’s kind of interesting to see how these cases are all mingle. I’m not confined because I only hear the major felony criminal, I only hear delinquencies or only hear the CHINS cases; you can kind of get an overview of everything that’s going on in a case, which is kind of interesting.
Do you have a favorite memory from your time as a judge?
I think always adoptions are a big part. When you deal with the CHINS and just see the path that some children have had to get to that point and we have family that wants to adopt them, (it) is pretty rewarding to see that through and be part of that. That’s probably the biggest rewarding and memorable thing that I’ll take away from this, is doing those things. (I) cherish the kind of relationships I have with other judges and the attorneys that I have to deal with.
What is something you have learned about yourself since becoming a judge?
I work on my patience with people and with attorneys and parties themselves; that’s probably something I’ve learned to just kind of deal with, that part of it. Staying sane — it’s sometimes hard. Today, for example, I was dealing with CHINS almost all morning and then I switch gears to delinquency matters (and) I’ve done criminal cases in the afternoon. So, trying to balance all those things at once has been something that’s been a challenge to stay organized. Running the other things that we have to deal with that are not necessarily the practice of law, like running the office, having a budget, always looking to try to improve things, how the court operates as far as, how we are running our public defenders? What do I need to have a (court-appointed special advocate) program? Do I need different programs and services that are available knowing what’s been afforded to the probation staff? What are they? What are they doing?
When you’re not on the bench, what are some of your hobbies?
Right now I have three teenagers, so just trying to keep up with them and their activities that they’re in. I enjoy reading. I have played ice hockey since I was a kid. I also do a lot of home improvement projects; I like working on things around my house and garden and things like that.
What is something you would change about the legal field if you could?
I’ve served on a couple of committees that the Supreme Court has put together, one on the future of the bar exam, and we talked a lot about the bar exam as it currently existed and what we could do. When that committee met back in 2018 monthly to go over that, it was interesting to see and talk about the options that might be available and what the future can hold. This is how lawyers are trained. And then since then, I’ve served on a committee that examined the viability of an online law school, and so we had a little bit of getting to listen to a lot about how we train lawyers and, I think, given what I see when I’m on the bench, I think lawyers really benefit from more of — I wish lawyers were trained a little bit more like doctors … almost apprentice, in a way.
Who is someone you look up to?
The prosecutor who brought me here. My boss was a good mentor for me. At the time he was a very dedicated prosecutor, ethical lawyer and fair. He was just kind of a steady influence on my legal career. I would say he was a big mentor to me.
If you could choose a career that wasn’t law, what would you do?
I enjoy building things and working on things, and so I would say maybe some type of contractor or carpenter. I have a family history of that and farming, as well … I grew up around that, people kind of doing things for themselves as far as building and taking care of things in their homes themselves. I enjoy doing these kinds of projects in my house, from painting my own house to building small pieces of furniture, things like that. So any kind of home improvement a project, remodeling project, those kinds of things, I enjoy doing that.•
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