It was a full day of swearing-in ceremonies Thursday afternoon, as county elected officials and their staff swore their oaths of office in front of a judge.
It all kicked off with newly elected Family Court Judge Katherine Hicks Demps, who had a special ceremony in which she was given her official judge’s robes. She was sworn in front of all her fellow judges, including some retired judges, and she says she’s eager to hit the ground running and bring both compassion and fairness to the families of Christian County.
Christian County Sheriff Tyler DeArmond, along with his deputies, were sworn-in—the sheriff actually takes three different oaths, the peace officer’s oath, the sheriff’s oath and the constitutional oath of office. Christian County Coroner Scott Daniel was re-sworn in, along with his deputy coroners.
Lincoln Foster is stepping into the role of County Attorney, as John Soyars is retiring at the end of his term. He took his oath, and he says Soyars leaves some big shoes to fill—and that’s not even counting the shoes left by his father, longtime former County Attorney Mike Foster. He says he’s here to serve the people of Christian County.
The Christian County Jail has a new jailer in Adam Smith, who was sworn in along with the deputy jailers, and he says he’ll spend the next few weeks getting to understand the jail and how it operates, but after that, he hopes to expand inmate and community services.
For the first time in roughly a hundred years, Christian County will have a Republican judge-executive, as Jerry Gilliam took his oath of office Thursday. He says the transition has been very smooth, thanks to the support of longtime Judge-Executive Steve Tribble, and he’s ready to step into the role and make this county the best in the Commonwealth.
Along with Judge-Executive Gilliam, all the Fiscal Court magistrates were also sworn-in, including new magistrates Josh Turner, George Barnett, J.E. Pryor, Russ Guffey and John Bruce.
With the retirement of longtime Christian County Clerk Mike Kem, Melinda Humphries won the election to fill that space, and she and her staff were sworn-in by Judge John Atkins. Humphries says there’s a lot she wants to accomplish, and she’s excited to get started.
With these swearing in ceremonies, it signals the start of new administrations, new perspectives in Christian County, and the start of a new year.
