Kelly Thompson (judge)

Kelly Thompson
Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2, 2023
Preceded by	John D. Minton Jr.
Personal details
Born	1947 or 1948 (age 76–77)
Political party	Republican[1]
Education	Western Kentucky University (BA) University of Kentucky (JD)

Kelly Thompson Jr. (born 1947 or 1948)[2] is an American lawyer from Kentucky who has served as a justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court since 2023. He was previously a judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals from 2007 to 2023.

Education

Thompson graduated from Western Kentucky University in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts and a teaching certificate. He earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1972.[3][4]

Career

After graduating law school, from 1972 to 1973 he was chief trial counsel for the Kentucky Department of Highways in Hardin County and from 1973 to 1974, he served as a law clerk for the Kentucky Court of Appeals. From 1974 to 2006 he was a lawyer in the Bowling Green area.[3] He was elected to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 2006.[5]

Kentucky Supreme Court

On November 8, 2022, Thompson was elected as a justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, defeating his challenger, healthcare lawyer Shawn Marie Alcott.[6] He replaced retiring Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr.[5]

Electoral history

JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT 2nd Supreme Court District[7]

Nonpartisan	Votes	Pct
Kelly Thompson Jr	81,761	62%

References

1. "Elect Judge Kelly Thompson for Kentucky Supreme Court". Facebook. October 27, 2022.
2. Yetter, Deborah (November 8, 2022). "Election results: Bisig wins Supreme Court seat, Keller defeats Fischer in high court race". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
3. "Kelly Thompson - Kentucky Court of Justice". kycourts.gov. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
4. "Kelly David Thompson Judge Profile on Martindale.com". www.martindale.com. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
5. Autry, Lisa (November 9, 2022). "Appeals Court Judge from Bowling Green elected to Kentucky Supreme Court". WKU Public Radio. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
6. Riley, Jason (November 8, 2022). "Kentucky Supreme Court will get a few new faces, including change in chief justice". WDRB. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
7. "Election Night Reporting". vrsws.sos.ky.gov. November 8, 2022. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.

External links

• Kelly Thompson at Ballotpedia

Legal offices
Preceded by John D. Minton Jr.	Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court 2023–present	Incumbent