People ask me if I like my job. I really do. I enjoy the contacts with law enforcement. I like the teamwork among the staff. Media interviews are fun. So are parades. I get to meet people every day. Often, I am able to help folks. I love trials, especially when one of our prosecutors is in top form.

Some days are “off-the-chart” cool. Like last Monday.

Do you remember the threats of school violence last fall? One was at McIntosh. Some kids threatened to kill the teachers and their other enemies. About 400 parents removed their children from school early. Later that month two other threats caused similar concerns at other schools in the county.

No current law adequately addresses that type of threat. That is especially true if the defendant is a juvenile. We did the best we could, but I realized that we need a new law.

I called Senator Ronnie Chance. He is the Governor’s Senate Floor Leader. His district includes Fayette County. I suggested that he talk to the Governor about a bill to make it a crime to threaten to do violence at a school and to put a provision in the bill that gave me more options to deal with a juvenile offender than I currently have. Senator Chance said, “What I would rather do is arrange a meeting between you, me and the Governor to discuss this.”

So, on Monday I went to the capitol. We met with the Governor. He made comments about the idea and suggested that we draft a bill and see how it looks.

As we got up to leave, the Governor’s assistant said, “Governor, I don’t know if you are aware of this, but Mr. Ballard’s son is an intern with us in the Office of Planning and Budget. We brought him over and would like for you to meet him.” Suddenly, my son, David, walked into the Governor’s office. It was a total surprise to me—a kindness I will never forget. Thank you Ronnie Chance.