For context | Kentucky sheriff accused of killing judge to face trial

WHITESBURG, Ky. (WKYT) – Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines will be arraigned Wednesday.

Stines is charged with murder in last week’s fatal shooting of Judge Kevin Mullins.

He will be arraigned in Letcher County.

The judge presiding over Sheriff Mickey Stines’ arraignment is actually a district court judge for Carter, Elliot and Morgan counties.

For context, defendants typically appear before their district judge, but for Sheriff Stines, it was Judge Kevin Mullins, the man he is accused of killing.

At the arraignment, Judge Wilhoit will read the charges Sheriff Stines faces.

A plea will be entered on his behalf and bail will be set.

The judge will also schedule a preliminary hearing, and at that hearing, he will determine whether there is enough evidence to send the case to the grand jury.

If the grand jury indicts him, he will be formally arraigned in circuit court, but Sheriff Stines will not be in court for his arraignment.

He will appear virtually before a special judge on Wednesday.

He is being held out of Letcher County for security reasons. The state does not want a sheriff sharing a cell with people he has already arrested.

Stines is being held about an hour away in Leslie County.