For decades, now-retired Cullman District Judge Kim Chaney acted as an advocate for court programs that aimed to do more than simply process people through the judicial system. Beginning his career as a local sheriff’s deputy before earning his law degree and serving as an assistant district attorney, Chaney was elected to his first term on the judge’s bench in 1993.

There, Chaney would go on to spearhead a number of innovations and reforms aimed at improving the futures of both crime victims and defendants — with an particular emphasis on young people — who earnestly sought to make the most of being offered a second chance. Local voters appeared to appreciate his efforts, too, returning him time and again to the district judge’s seat until Chaney announced his retirement in February of 2020.

Now Chaney’s name will officially grace the ten-bed detention facility he helped establish as a local way to house juvenile offenders who previously had been incarcerated in other Alabama counties. At this month’s regular meeting of the Cullman County Commission, the commission unanimously approved renaming the facility as the “Honorable Kim J. Chaney Juvenile Detention Center,” a move that commission chairman Jeff Clemons, himself one of Chaney’s former law enforcement colleagues, described as a well-deserved honor.

“Look at all the young lives that you’ve saved and you’ve helped,” said Clemons, who formerly served as a local sheriff’s deputy during Chaney’s time on the bench. “You’ve done so many good things all across Cullman County, and it’s truly an honor for me to have been a part of that.”

Both as a judge and as an active and engaged community leader, Chaney instituted or helped innovate numerous court and community programs that continue to afford some of Cullman County’s most vulnerable residents alternate paths out of poverty, recidivism, and danger. Serving on the bench for a total of 27 years, he was the first local judge to computerize his office and the first to wear a judge’s robe.

Chaney was one of the state’s first judges to utilize the Alabama Community Corrections Act to form Cullman’s Community Corrections Program, offering eligible participants avenues for probation, diversion, and even to obtain their adult GEDs. He also worked to start the Cullman Drug Court to help those facing problems with addiction, an innovation that later expanded to other “accountability” courts including the Veterans Court and the Mental Health Court.

First and foremost a children’s advocate, Chaney worked on numerous state and local boards and foundations to promote children’s issues. He served as the county’s presiding Juvenile Court judge, the appointing authority and administrator for all local Juvenile Probation officers. Chaney also was the 1994 co-founder of a Juvenile Bootcamp Wilderness Program in Walker County. Known today as the Mitnick Wilderness Program, the cap eventually would expand to serve 13 northwest Alabama counties.

Locally, Chaney was among the charter board members of local outreach nonprofit Cullman Caring for Kids. Statewide, he served his profession through numerous leadership avenues, including membership on the Alabama Office of Indigent Defense Review Panel, as past president of the Alabama Juvenile and Family Court Judges’ Association, as past president of the State of Alabama District Judges’ Association, through service in the Alabama Criminal Justice Information System (which was responsible for establishing information and technology programs for all law enforcement and criminal justice agencies in the state), and as past president of the Alabama Drug Court Professionals — a group that recognized Chaney with the Howell Heflin Award for maintaining an outstanding Drug Court and Court Referral program.

“I’ve always felt that the children of Cullman County are our most precious resource,” Chaney told the commission, after joking that each commissioner’s kind words had elicited him to offer a speech that he hadn’t planned on making. “I always felt that we needed to spend time on the front end to try to keep [children] in school and try to help them make better decisions; to try to keep them out of the adult system. That’s why our juvenile court was so active, and why we had so many programs. But there’s no way one man could do that; I had a lot of help.

“I was very fortunate to work with outstanding judicial assistants Pat Sapp and Stacy Osborn, and with directors of Juvenile Probation — Brenda Howell Waters, and, later, Kay Bell. All of them shared my passion for helping the children and families of Cullman County. We are blessed to have the best Juvenile Probation staff in the state. It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Cullman County and I would again like to thank the commission for this great tribute.”

As district judge, Chaney chaired a Juvenile Coordination Council, which was responsible for coordinating a broad variety of services that affected quality-of-life issues like health, safety, education, and families connected with juveniles and adolescents in Cullman County. The council was instrumental in the development of many local juvenile projects and programs, including the following:

– The Cullman Ropes Course
– The first alternative schools for the Cullman City and County School systems
– The Early Warning Truancy program to help keep kids in school
– The Bridge — a program that provided adolescents with alcohol and drug counseling
– The Juvenile Accountability Weekend Service, teaming law enforcement with Juvenile Probation officers
– The Juvenile Conference Committee, involving community members who monitored low-risk offenders, as an alternative to court hearings
– The Baby Think it Over program, which provided digital “babies” to local schools as a health abstinence education outreach
– The annual Safe Kids Expo
– The Cullman Court-Appointed Special Advocate Program (CASA) to help with children who become involved with the Department of Human Resources
– Cullman Partnership for Youth, a nonprofit corporation to help obtain grants that support juvenile projects
– A trauma prevention program (in partnership with Cullman Regional hospital) for young drivers cited for speeding, to promote better driving decisions and reduce teenage accidents.
– The sponsorship of several drug and computer safety programs to protect kids and families

The Cullman Times recognized Chaney in 2001 as its Distinguished Citizen of the Year. In 2010, Chaney was awarded the Governor’s People Against a Littered State (PALS) Award for using community service anti-litter programs; that same year, he received the Chester Freeman Service to Others Award presented by the Cullman Lions Club. He also was the recipient of the Emma Marie Eddleman Citizenship Award presented by the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce, as well as the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award presented by the Cullman High School Foundation. Alongside his wife Maureen, a former special education teacher, the Chaneys also received the Dot Causey Service to Children Award presented by local group home and orphanage Childhaven.

Judge Kim Chaney has been married to Maureen for 42 years. They have two children: local attorney Alex Chaney (Paige), and Dr. Emily Chaney Compton (Brett). Kim and Maureen also are proud grandparents to three grandchildren.