Phillip Page, an assistant county attorney, is running for Daviess District Court Judge for Division 3.
Page said his qualifications and years of experience in several aspects of law make him well-suited for the position.
“District Court judges are the first judges people see when they come in contact with the criminal justice system,” Page said. “They see everything from minor traffic violations like speeding, to medium-level offenses like theft, to higher-level offenses like murder. At this initial phase I think it’s important to have a person who has leadership experience, who can make tough life-changing decisions, while still being able to relate to the people they serve.”
He said judges are civil servants, which Page said he has been his whole life.
“As a youth I earned my Eagle badge in the Boy Scouts. After college I went on to serve my country in the U.S. Army and deployed to Iraq. After the Army I continued to prepare myself for service in the legal field by getting a law degree, working on the court-appointed attorney list and currently as a prosecutor,” he said. “To my knowledge I am the first African-American candidate for judge and I hope to become the first African-American judge to serve Daviess County.”
Page currently serves as an assistant county attorney and prosecutes juvenile offenders.
“As a juvenile prosecutor I see all of the crimes committed by adults, everything from shoplifting and assault to murder, rape and arson,” Page said. “However, I have the additional complexity in juvenile cases of the defendant being a juvenile, and therefore the cases are confidential and the goal of the juvenile justice system is to rehabilitate, rather than punish.”
Page said occasionally he has a case so serious it warrants being transferred to adult court, such as when a juvenile commits murder. He also prosecutes guardianship, Casey’s Law, and child support cases.
Prior to working as a prosecutor, Page practiced family law (i.e. divorces, custody, visitation, child support, and dependency neglect and abuse cases).
“I feel qualified for this position because I have worked hand-in-hand with social workers, police officers, Department of Juvenile Justice workers, fellow lawyers and judges to solve complex legal issues impacting our community,” he said. “Even as a prosecutor my goal has been to redress the alleged offenders’ wrongdoings and hold the offender accountable. I feel my work as a family lawyer, handling cases where families are torn apart by divorce, and handling juvenile prosecution, where families are impacted by bad decisions made by a juvenile, uniquely qualifies me to further help my community in solving problems as a District Court Judge.”
If elected, Page wants to improve court efficiency and time management.
“For example, during the pandemic the court has gone to doing the prisoner docket virtually,” Page said. “By using technology, prisoners can be seen more efficiently and do not have to be brought over for simple, short appearances such as arraignment and bond hearings. I’d like to look into other areas and advocate for a virtual evening traffic/misdemeanor court where people don’t have to miss work to appear for minor offenses like failing to renew license plates or failure to maintain insurance.”
Page grew up in Alliance, Ohio — a place he said is similar to Owensboro. He comes from a large blended family and has five sisters and one brother, but he is the only child from his two parents.
After graduating high school, Page went to Youngstown State University and studied criminal justice and psychology. The 9/11 attacks happened while he was there, and Page felt compelled to join the U.S. Army.
He finished his bachelor’s degree and enlisted in the Army for 4 years. He was deployed to Iraq in 2005 for 16 months. Toward the end of the 16 months, Page was shot while on mission in Baghdad and received a Purple Heart for the injury. He later joined the Army Reserves and returned to YSU to complete a master’s degree in criminal justice.
Page met his wife and Owensboro native Thomika (O’Bryan) Page while in law school in Florida, and upon their graduation in 2015 he followed her back to Kentucky and began practicing law that year.
They regularly attend Bellevue Baptist Church. Page has been in several of their Christmas productions and serves on multiple community boards and helps with multiple fundraisers.
“Part of what led me to the legal profession was a writing exercise back in grade school,” Page said. “My teacher told me to write my obituary and to outline the kind of life I wanted to have and the things I wanted to accomplish. I wrote that I wanted to be remembered as a pillar of the community, the church, and a fierce advocate for what was right. I didn’t write about wanting a fancy house and millions of dollars. I wrote about wanting to make a real difference in people’s lives and to generally make the world better for having been in it. I wanted to serve my community and inspire others to serve. I think I have done all of those things up to this point and I hope to continue to serve my community as District Court Judge.”
