A Kentucky judge who authorities said was fatally shot by a sheriff last week was remembered Sunday as a pioneer who fought opioid addiction and favored treatment over jail for low-level drug offenders.

As residents of a small town in southeast Kentucky mourn the loss of a prominent district judge, they’re looking for answers about the argument that authorities say led up to his killing inside the judge’s chambers and the sheriff’s arrest in his death.

They'd been friends for years and were two well-known elected officials. So why would Letcher County's sheriff shoot its only judge in the courthouse?

They'd been friends for years and were two well-known elected officials. So why is Letcher County's sheriff charged with shooting its only judge?

A small, tight-knit southeast Kentucky community has been reeling after their sheriff was arrested for the killing of a prominent district judge in his chambers Thursday – spurring residents to wonder what could have triggered the shooting and prompting calls for better courthouse security.

A local sheriff ate lunch with a prominent district judge hours before allegedly shooting the judge in his chambers, according to a court official, who said<a class="excerpt-read-more" href=" More

A judge in a rural Kentucky county was shot and killed at the local courthouse on Thursday, and the local sheriff was charged in the shocking slaying, police said.