I muri i tana paahitanga mai i te Whare Wananga o Kentucky, i mahi a Collins hei kaiako kura i te wa i oti ai tana taatai i tana taatai i te niho. I hiahia ia ki nga mahi torangapu, a i mahi ia i runga i te kaupapa perehitini a Wendell Ford i te tau 1971 me te kaupapa a Walter "Dee" Huddleston mo te US Senate i te tau 1972. I te tau 1975, i kowhiria ia hei kaitiaki mo te roopu Democratic Party o te kawanatanga ka kowhiria hei kaitiaki o te Kooti Appeals o Kentucky. I a ia e mahi ana hei kaitiaki, i whakahoutia e te kaupapa ture te punaha whakawa o te kawanatanga, a ko te Kooti Appeals te Kooti Nui o Kentucky. I haere tonu a Collins hei kaitiaki o te kooti i whakaingoatia ka mahi ki te ako i nga taangata mo te mahi hou a te kooti.
he kaitiaki o te Pāti Manapori o te kāwanatanga, ā, i kōwhiria hei kaitiaki o te Kōti Whakapā o Kentucky