NHTSA Judicial Outreach Liaisons
Hon. Karl B. Grube, Region 4 Liaison
Judge Grube has served as a County Court Judge in St. Petersburg, Florida, since his election to that office in 1976. In 2000 he was elected to a seventh consecutive term in office. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Elmhurst College, in Illinois, his Juris Doctor degree from Stetson University in Florida and 1992 was awarded a Masters Degree in Judicial Studies from the University of Nevada.
Prior to assuming the bench, he served as an assistant public defender followed by private practice, which included being city attorney for Redington Beach, Florida. Judge Grube was elected president of the Florida Conference of County Court Judges and has served as assistant dean of the Florida New Judges College. In 1991 he was elected chairperson of the American Bar Association's National Conference of Specialized Court Judges and has been active in the ABA's Judicial Division, including occupying an elected seat on the ABA's Judicial Council.
Judge Grube has been a member of the Florida Bar Rules of Civil Procedure committee for the past 5 years and has chaired several civil rules subcommittees during his tenure. He has authored law review articles related to impaired driving, motor vehicles, and constitutional criminal procedure. These include: Analyzing the Videotaping of Drunk Driving Suspects as an Act Police Discretion, Law/Technology,Vol.22 No. 2 1989, Radar Speed Measurement: The Controversy Continues Fla. Bar Journal Vol. 54 No. 6. 1980, A Restitution Program for Uninsured Offenders in Traffic Court State Court Journal Vol. 6 No. 1 1982, and Electronic Plea Taking at Florida's Weekend First Appearance Hearings, Stetson Law Review, 1992. He presently serves as a member of the Florida "DUI Programs Review Board" which monitors and conducts annual site inspection visits for all facilities that conduct DUI programs in the State of Florida.
In 1996 Judge Grube was appointed to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Judicial Training Implementation Board. In that capacity he has trained over 350 judges from 42 states to develop effective teaching skills to improve the adjudication of impaired driving cases in their jurisdictions. He is active in teaching on both state and national levels. This year he celebrates his 22nd anniversary as a member of the faculty of the National Judicial College (NJC) where he currently functions as the lead faculty member of the College's new Traffic Court Issues In The 21st Century program.
In addition to designing the 21st Century program, Judge Grube also designed the NJC's new DUI Primer and Sentencing Issues In Traffic Cases courses. These courses debuted in the fall of 2002 and were added to the NJC's regular course offerings for 2003. Judge Grube has served two 3-year terms as a member of the College's Faculty Council. In that capacity he represented all NJC voluntary faculty members who teach in the College's specialty courses. In 2000 he was elected chairperson of the Faculty Council.
From 1998 to the present, Judge Grube has functioned as a member of state DUI assessment teams that have performed comprehensive assessments of enforcement, prosecution, adjudication and treatment of DUI offenders and offenses in the states of Delaware, Tennessee, Utah, North Carolina, and Illinois.
In 1998 he was awarded the NHTSA judicial fellowship and functioned in that capacity for two years as a liaison between NHTSA and judges throughout the United States. His fellowship duties included designing the first national Traffic Court Technology program, which was implemented through a cooperative grant from NHTSA to the American Bar Association's (ABA) Judicial Division. For the past three years Judge Grube has functioned as the lead faculty member Traffic Court Technology programs which have been presented throughout the U.S. in venues including Newport, R.I., Seattle, WA, Corpus Christi, TX, and Savannah, GA
Hon. G. Michael Witte, Region 5 Liaison
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Hon. G. Michael Witte is judge of the Dearborn Superior Court No. 1, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. He served as judge of the Dearborn County Court from 1985 – 2000 and was the first Asian American to serve as judge in the State of Indiana. He received both his B.A. and J.D. degrees from Indiana University, serves as President of the law school’s Alumni Board, and was honored in 2008 by the Alumni Association as its Distinguished Asian Alumni.
He is a 1991 graduate of the Indiana Judicial College, the 2002 class of the Graduate Program for Indiana Judges, and a former member of the Indiana Commission on Courts. Judge Witte served as the Judicial Fellow for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) from 1995-98, and served on the Congressional Advisory Committee for Commercial Driver’s License, 2007-08. He served as Chairman of the American Bar Association National Conference of Specialized Court Judges, 2005-06, is currently Vice-Chair of the ABA Judicial Division, and also serves as Co-chair of the Division’s Standing Committee on Minorities in the Judiciary.
In addition, he has served as faculty for programs presented by the American Bar Association, the National Judicial College, NHTSA, the National Center for State Courts, the National Criminal Justice Association, the Indiana Judicial Center, and the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum. Judge Witte’s teaching experience is primarily in the field of impaired driving, traffic court, and small claims issues. His legal teaching assignments have occurred in Arkansas, Hawaii, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Toronto, Canada, and Washington. Judge Witte has performed NHTSA assessments of impaired driving programs for Hawaii, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Kansas, and Maryland. Judge Witte joined The National Judicial College faculty in 1994.
Hon. Kenton G. Askren, Region 7 Liaison
Judge Kenton G. Askren was elected Associate Circuit Judge, Cooper County, Missouri 18th Circuit in 1974, and served 8 terms. He is Past President, Missouri Association of Probate & Associate Circuit Judges. He chaired a committee that created the Missouri Substance Abuse Traffic Offender program for DWIs, and the Alcohol Drug Education Program (for minors with DWI) (SATOP/ADEP), Small Claims Court as well as participating on the committee that created the Missouri Statewide Fine Collection Center. He was the Juvenile Judge sponsor of the Cooper County Teen Court. He created the Cooper County Family Counseling in Problem Drinking, Domestic Violence Counseling Program and Financial Management Program. He also partnered with the Missouri Department of Corrections Restorative Justice Program and was the founding chair of the Boonslick Habitat for Humanity.
Judge Askren received his BA in Business Administration from Central Missouri State University in 1971, and his JD in 1974 from the University of Missouri, Columbia, School of Law. He has been a member of the Missouri Bar since 1974. A member of the American Bar Association since 1975, he has or is a member of the Dispute Resolution Section, Family Law Section, Conference of State Trial Judges and National Conference of Specialized Court Judges. He is also a member of the Association of Missouri Mediators, Inc.
In 2007 Judge Askren opened the Askren Law Office which provides arbitration and mediation services, Guardian ad Litem/lawyer representation in Juvenile, Domestic and Probate cases and limited appearances for urban law firms.
Judge Askren and his wife, Linda, have been married for 30 years and have two daughters, Elizabeth and Jennie. He is serving as an Elder at the Broadway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Columbia, MO.
Hon. Frederic B. Rodgers, Region 8 Liaison
Judge Rodgers is a graduate of Amherst College and the Albany Law School. He has been a judge since 1969 when he served as one of the first U.S. Army military judges in Vietnam; there he was awarded two Bronze Stars and the Air Medal. He has also been chief deputy district attorney in Denver, magistrate of the Denver Juvenile Court and in private practice in Breckenridge, CO representing ski resort businesses. He became a part-time municipal judge in 1978, and in 1986 Governor Richard Lamm appointed him judge of the Gilpin County Court. He has been retained by election five times. He hears civil and criminal cases, including felonies, as well as juvenile, domestic relations, eminent domain, mental health and probate cases in Colorado’s 1st Judicial District. Committed to judicial education, he serves as Judicial Outreach Liaison to judges in NHTSA Region VIII (CO, UT, NV, WY, ND and SD). He received the Anthony Greco Award for Exemplary Judicial Achievement in 2008, the Outstanding State Chair of the ABA Fellows Award in 2009, the 1992 Outstanding Community Judge Award from the 17th Judicial District Victims’ Advocacy Coalition, and the 2003 Award of Merit from the Denver Law Club.
Judge Rodgers has taught at numerous national, international and state CLE programs and has published articles in The Judges’ Journal and The Colorado Lawyer. He is co-author of the NJC Benchbook Modern Judicial Ethics, of Chapter 16 of the book The Improvement of the Administration of Justice (7th Ed.) and served on the editorial board of the Judges’ Journal. He provided judicial training and law drafting assistance to the Vietnam Supreme People’s Court, National Assembly and Ministry of Justice for USAID and the U.N. Development Programme in 2002-2003. He has been president of the Colorado Municipal Judges Association, the Colorado County Judges Association, the Denver Law Club, the National Conference of Special Court Judges, Rhone-Brackett American Inn of Court, Vice-chair of the Colorado Trial Judges Council, and Chair of the ABA Judicial Division. He served in the ABA House of Delegates, ABA Nominating Committee, on the ABA Board of Governors representing the states of CO, AZ and OK, and was the Colorado Bar Association Senior Vice-President for 2004-05. He served on the Boards of the American Judicature Society and of the National Judicial College, whose faculty he joined in 1990, and was Chair of its Faculty Council in 1999. He is Chair-elect of the Board of Trustees of the National Judicial College for 2008-09. His website is http://www.courts.state.co.us/Bio.cfm/Employee_ID/113.
Elected a Life Fellow of both the American and Colorado Bar Foundations, he chairs the Colorado ABA Fellows, and his name appears in Who’s Who in America. He skis, bikes, plays banjo, writes songs and performs music as he teaches judges. Check out his tunes at www.son.gs/Fred.htm. He is married to Valerie McNaughton and they have a teen-age son, Gabriel.
Hon. Peggy Hora, Region 9 Liaison
Judge Peggy Fulton Hora retired from the California Superior Court after serving 21 years. She had a criminal assignment that included presiding over the Drug Treatment Court. She is a former dean of the B.E. Witkin Judicial College of California and has been on the faculty of the National Judicial College over 15 years. She is a recipient of the Bernard S. Jefferson Judicial Education Award from the California Judges’ Association and winner of the Rose Bird Award from California Women Lawyers. Judge Hora is a Senior Judicial Fellow for the National Drug Court Institute.
Judge Hora has maintained an active and extensive schedule of teaching and training throughout the United States and internationally on how judges can become agents of change using principles of therapeutic jurisprudence. Judges have a unique opportunity to change the lives for the better of the overwhelmingly majority of people who come before criminal courts with substance abuse problems. The appellate court and over 100 journals and law reviews have cited her work. She is a 2009 Thinker in Residence appointed by the Premier of South Australia. She will work on therapeutic jurisprudence and restorative justice issues for the government in Adelaide this year.
Hon. Mike Padden, Region 10 Liaison
Hon. Mike Padden was appointed to the Spokane County District Court Bench in 1995, where he served until 2007, following re-election three times. He received his B.A. degree from Gonzaga University in 1971, and his J.D. from the Gonzaga School of Law in 1974.
Prior to assuming the bench, Judge Padden was a member of the Washington State legislature from January, 1981 until his appointment to the Bench in 1995. In the Legislature he served as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and Majority Floor Leader. During this time he received numerous awards, including the Legislative Service Award from Lawyers Helping People, a division of the Washington State Trial Lawyers for “consistency in courageously voting my conscience.” He was named the 1995 Legislator of the Year by the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association “for unwavering commitment of principles of civil justice and dedication in protecting the rights of injured people and their families.” Judge Padden received the President’s Award from Judge Stephen Dwyer for his work as Chair of the District and Municipal Court Judges’ Association Legislative Committee.
Judge Padden has served as a Judge for high school mock trials; an organized CLE program on cultural awareness for his local bar association, and has spoken at and organized other events to educate the public on how the courts operate. He has been a frequent speaker at Impaired Driver Traffic Safety Conferences. As a member of the District and Municipal Court Judges Association, he chaired the legislative committee for one year, was an active member of the Presiding Judges Conference planning committee. Judge Padden was chosen to participate in the Leadership for Presiding Judges Curriculum Development Work Group meeting in Williamsburg, VA.
Judge Padden was elected twice by his colleagues on the Spokane County District Court Bench as the Presiding Judge. He helped spearhead the establishment of the Spokane County DUI Court and along with Judge Patty Walker was assigned to the DUI Court docket for 2007. Judge Padden retired from the Spokane County District Court Bench in January 2008. In his spare time, Judge Padden enjoys volunteering with his church, with the Spokane Valley Meals on Wheels program, and with Spokane American Legion Baseball.
