PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Now that Pike County Circuit Judge Howard Keith Hall is under federal indictment, his docket caseload will be reassigned by Chief Regional and Pike Circuit Judge Eddie Coleman along with Vice-Chief Judge Kim Childers, the state’s Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) said Monday.

Jim Hannah, spokesperson for the AOC, said Coleman and Childers will reassign Hall’s cases to other sitting judges and that the AOC will also tap the retired judge’s program for some cases, if needed.

The Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission suspended Hall from his position with pay Thursday following the indictment on allegations of theft and fraud.

According to the that indictment, the allegations are that Hall was involved in a scheme beginning in 2010 through 2020 while serving as Pike County Attorney.

The alleged theft and fraud totaled about $440,000, with benefits included, Hall supposedly afforded to an unidentified attorney as a part-time assistant for his office.

However, the indictment states that the unnamed attorney “performed almost no work on behalf of PCAO (Pike County Attorney’s Office), did not report to work at PCAO or the Pike County Child Support Enforcement Office, and other than a handful of times, did not represent the PCAO in court.”

Hall is scheduled to have his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Lexington on May 16.