'I always tried to do what was right.' The Legacy of retiring Judge Irv Maze.

The boxes are packed, the dusty old law books piled up on tables. The walls are bare and, to a casual observer (your humble columnist), there doesn’t appear to be a single classified document lying about. With a week to go before his term concludes, retiring Court of Appeals Judge Irv Maze sits in his office and reflects on events from a 47-year career in public service −a span that saw him elected to and serve with distinction in all three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial.

Irvin G. Maze (“I’ve spent a lifetime correcting people who called me ‘Irving.’”) was born in 1950 in rural Beech Grove, Indiana, to Robert Maze, a farmer and part-time IRS agent, and his teen-aged wife, Evelyn, who worked in a drug store. The younger Maze credits his grandfather, John R. Maze, for instilling in him a passion for politics. At the time, grandfather Maze was the only Democrat elected to an office (township trustee) in solid-GOP Marion County. Even after his political career ended, the senior Maze continued to take his grandson with him on the campaign trails.

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As it was for many in the baby-boom generation, 1968 proved to be a defining year in young Irv’s life. As a high school senior, he joined the local campaign of the charismatic Robert F. Kennedy’s quest for the White House. He was there, on April 4, 1968, in downtown Indianapolis, when Kennedy announced to a stunned crowd that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated, “that Dr. King dedicated his life to love and to justice for his fellow human beings and he died because of that effort.” (Two months later, Kennedy himself was murdered.)

After graduating from Indiana University, Maze applied and was admitted to law school at University of Louisville. In need of employment, he put his political science degree to work at the Jefferson County courthouse as a deputy clerk for Paulie Miller. Maze worked days “doing everything” and went to law school at night. Young lawyers have no fear starting out and Maze began his law practice by suing Jefferson County government over some arcane transgression pertaining to election laws. After he won the case, the suitably impressed opposing counsel, assistant County Attorney Michael O’Connell (the current Jefferson County Attorney) offered him a part-time position which he accepted.

In his hallmark driven way, Maze threw himself into every division, in the process winning a landmark case affirming the use of scientific evidence in paternity cases, a ruling that generated millions of dollars of child support for destitute mothers and children (and still does today).

In 1985, circumstances produced a vacancy in the office of “B” District County Commissioner, one of three districts (“A” and “C” being the other two, obviously) that comprised the then-legislative branch of Jefferson County’s Fiscal Court. Maze was appointed by the Governor and then won the job in his own right at the polls. Despite his youth, his facile legal mind and political savvy made him indispensable to County Judges Bremer Ehrler and Harvey Sloane. When the County Attorney’s office opened up in 1998, Maze pounced with his usual fervor. In a good year for Republicans -- Rebecca Jackson was elected County Judge/Executive and “Bobbie” Holsclaw won County Clerk − Maze triumphed with 60% of the vote.

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County Attorney Maze coordinated the daunting task of consolidating the city and county governments after merger was ratified by the voters in 2000. When Drug Court was going to end due to finances, he led the effort to rescue this invaluable resource to keep addicted people out of prison and on a path to recovery. His ingenuity clawed back some $3 million dollars from a $12 million dollar settlement in a strip-search class action suit when he researched whether or not any of the recipient-inmates owed any back child support (which many did and had to pay from their settlement funds).

In 2008, after the sudden death of a circuit judge, Irv Maze got the appointment, completing the trifecta of serving in all three branches of government. Four years later, Maze survived his only close race when he defeated his fellow circuit court judge, Jim Shake, for a seat on the Court of Appeals by the slim margin of 4,000 votes out of over 266,000 cast.

As an appellate judge, Maze is proudest of his “Todd County Standard [newspaper]” cases where he wrote the opinions upholding the state’s Open Records laws and the public’s right to know about atrocities (children killed while in foster care) that were covered up by malfeasant state employees.

Looking around his empty office, His Honor says he wants to be remembered as someone “who always tried to do what was right, worked hard, and believed it’s the people’s government.” Robert Kennedy once said: “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a ripple of hope. . .” Irv Maze, a good and decent man, did all of those things throughout a distinguished, 47-year career in public service for which the citizens of this county should be very grateful.

Bob Heleringer is an attorney and former Kentucky state legislator. He can be reached at helringr@bellsouth.net.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Heleringer: The Legacy of retiring Judge Irv Maze.