John Rochester, the Circuit Judge for Alabama's 40th Judicial Circuit, resides in Ashland. He recently led the restoration of the Clay County Courthouse and is known for making the humanities a part of alternative sentencing punishment/reform. Rochester has participated as a speaker for AHF, the Alabama Press Association, and has spoken at seminars at the Harvard and Yale law schools. He is involved with the State of Alabama Health Coordinating Council and the Friends of the Alabama Archives. Rochester received a bachelor's from Auburn, a J.D. from Samford and is currently enrolled in programs at both New York University and the University of Alabama.

* Rochester is a Humanities Happening presenter.