An attorney for Gov. Matt Bevin is asking a judge to consider disqualifying himself from hearing a lawsuit over Kentucky's new public pension law.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Bevin attorney Steve Pitt wrote to Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip J. Shepherd that the outcome of the case may affect the judge's financial interest because of his membership in the state judicial retirement plan.
Pitt argued that unlike Shepherd, judges who took office after Jan. 1, 2014, don't have the same pension and aren't affected by the lawsuit's outcome.
Bevin recently called Shepherd "an incompetent hack" after Shepherd denied Bevin's request to take depositions of representatives of the plaintiffs.
Shepherd wasn't immediately available for comment. Oral arguments are scheduled for June 7.
The newspaper said the letter was obtained through an Open Records request.