View source for Kentucky Supreme Court

{{Short description|Highest court in the U.S. state of Kentucky}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox high court
|court_name = Kentucky Supreme Court
|image = Kentucky Supreme Court Chamber.jpg
|imagesize = 
|caption = The chamber of the Kentucky Supreme Court
|established = 1976
|jurisdiction = [[Kentucky]], United States
|location =[[Frankfort, Kentucky]] 
|coordinates = 
|type = Non-partisan election
|authority = [[Kentucky Constitution]]
|appealsto = [[Supreme Court of the United States]]
|appeals = 
|terms = 
|positions = 7
|website = [https://kycourts.gov/Courts/Supreme-Court/Pages/default.aspx  Official Website]
|chiefjudgetitle = Chief Justice
|chiefjudgename = [[Debra H. Lambert]]
|termstart = January 6, 2025
|termend = 
|termend2 = 
}}

The '''Kentucky Supreme Court''' is the [[state supreme court]] of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Kentucky]].  Prior to its creation by constitutional amendment in 1975, the [[Kentucky Court of Appeals]] was the only appellate court in [[Kentucky]].  The Kentucky Court of Appeals is now Kentucky's intermediate appellate court.

Criminal appeals involving a sentence of [[capital punishment in Kentucky|death]], [[life imprisonment]], or imprisonment of twenty years or more are heard directly by the Kentucky Supreme Court, bypassing the Kentucky Court of Appeals.  All other cases are heard [[certiorari|on a discretionary basis]] on appeal from the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

The Kentucky Supreme Court promulgates the Rules of Court and Rules of Evidence. Through two of its subagencies, the Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions (KYOBA) and Kentucky Bar Association (KBA), it is the final arbiter for bar admissions (KYOBA) and discipline (KBA).

In the event that two or more justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court recuse themselves from a case, the [[Governor of Kentucky]] appoints Special Justices to sit for that particular case.

The court meets in a courtroom located on the second floor of the [[Kentucky State Capitol]] in [[Frankfort, Kentucky|Frankfort]].  The second floor of the capitol building is also home to offices for the justices and Supreme Court personnel.

The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), under the aegis of the Kentucky Supreme Court, serves as the administrative support agency for Kentucky courts and [[Kentucky Circuit Courts|Circuit Court]] Clerks.  The role of the AOC is similar to that of the Legislative Research Commission (LRC) for the [[Kentucky General Assembly]].

==Notable cases==

In its short history, the Kentucky Supreme Court has not produced much jurisprudence of note.  A study published in 2007 by the [[Supreme Court of California]] found that of all state supreme courts in the United States, the decisions of the Kentucky Supreme Court were the least followed by other states' appellate courts.<ref>Jake Dear and Edward W. Jessen, ''" Followed Rates" and Leading State Cases, 1940-2005'', <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">[http://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/41/2/essay/DavisVol41No2_Dear.pdf 41 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 683, 694]</span>(2007).</ref>

Notable decisions of the Kentucky Supreme Court include ''[[Kentucky v. Wasson]]'', 842 S.W.2d 487 (Ky. 1992), in which the court invalidated the criminalization of same-sex sodomy as a state equal protection violation. This Kentucky decision, based on the [[Kentucky Constitution]], was made at a time when the applicable federal [[Equal Protection Clause|equal protection]] precedent was ''[[Bowers v. Hardwick]]'', 478 U.S. 186 (1986), which held that federal constitutional protection of the right of privacy was not implicated in laws penalizing homosexual sodomy.   In 2003, the United States Supreme Court reversed itself and overturned ''Bowers'', issuing a decision in ''[[Lawrence v. Texas]]'', 539 U.S. 558 (2003) that mirrored Kentucky's ''Wasson'' ruling.

In Cameron v EMW Women's Surgical Center et al. (2023), the Court upheld Kentucky's total abortion ban by holding that abortion providers lack standing to challenge the statutes on behalf of their patients. The Court did not rule on the constitutionality of the ban.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://law.justia.com/cases/kentucky/supreme-court/2023/2022-sc-0326-i.html | title=Cameron v. EMW Women's Surgical Center, P.S.C. }}</ref>

== Current justices ==
[[File:Kentucky Supreme Court Districts.svg|thumb|Current districts of the Supreme Court]]
{{Main|List of justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court}}Justices are elected in nonpartisan elections to eight-year terms. In case of a vacancy the governor makes an appointment from a list of three names provided by the Kentucky Judicial Nominating Commission.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! District
! Justice
! Born
! Joined
! Term ends
! Elected
! Law school
|-
| 3rd
| {{sortname|Debra H.|Lambert}}<br />''Chief Justice''
| align="center" | {{sort|0|–}}
| {{dts|2019|1|7}}
| 2026
| [[2018 Kentucky Supreme Court election|2018]]
| [[University of Kentucky College of Law|Kentucky]]
|-
| 7th
| {{sortname|Robert B.|Conley}}<br />''Deputy Chief Justice''
| {{birth date and age|1958|7|19}}
| {{dts|2021|01|4}}
| 2028
| [[2020 Kentucky Supreme Court election|2020]]
| [[Salmon P. Chase College of Law|Northern Kentucky]]
|-
| 6th
| {{sortname|Michelle M.|Keller}}
| {{birth year and age|1960}}
| {{dts|2013|4|3}}
| 2030
| [[2014 Kentucky Supreme Court election|2014]]{{efn|Keller was first appointed to the court in 2013 by governor [[Steve Beshear]] before winning a full term in 2014.}}<br />[[2022 Kentucky Supreme Court election|2022]]
| [[Salmon P. Chase College of Law|Northern Kentucky]]
|-
| 1st
| {{sortname|Christopher Shea |Nickell}}
| {{birth based on age as of date|60|2019|11|7}}
| {{dts|2019|12|11}}
| 2030
| {{Nowrap|[[2019 Kentucky Supreme Court special election|2019 (special)]]}}<br />[[2022 Kentucky Supreme Court election|2022]]
| [[University of Kentucky College of Law|Kentucky]]
|-
| 2nd
| {{sortname|Kelly|Thompson|dab=judge}}
| {{birth based on age as of date|74|2022|11|08}}
| {{dts|2023|1|2}} 
| 2030
| [[2022 Kentucky Supreme Court election|2022]]
| [[University of Kentucky College of Law|Kentucky]]
|-
| 4th
| {{sortname|Angela McCormick|Bisig}}
| {{birth based on age as of date|57|2022|11|08}}
| {{dts|2023|1|2}} 
| 2030
| [[2022 Kentucky Supreme Court election|2022]]
| [[University of Louisville School of Law|Louisville]]
|-
| 5th
| {{sortname|Pamela R.|Goodwine}}
| {{birth based on age as of date|64|2024|9|25}}
| {{dts|2025|1|6}}
| 2032
| [[2024 Kentucky Supreme Court election|2024]]
| [[University of Kentucky College of Law|Kentucky]]
|}

{{notelist}}

== See also ==

{{Portal|Kentucky}}
*[[Courts of Kentucky]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://kycourts.gov/Courts/Supreme-Court/Pages/default.aspx Website of the Kentucky Supreme Court]
*[http://apps.kycourts.net/supreme/sc_opinions.shtm Database of Kentucky Supreme Court Opinions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090917114629/http://apps.kycourts.net/supreme/sc_opinions.shtm |date=2009-09-17 }}

{{US Judiciaries}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Kentucky law]]
[[Category:Kentucky state courts]]
[[Category:State supreme courts of the United States]]
[[Category:1976 establishments in Kentucky]]
[[Category:Courts and tribunals established in 1976]]