Staff report
Judge Joy A. Kramer has announced she will retire from the Kentucky Court of Appeals on September 1 after serving 15 years.
Kramer was first elected in 2006 to serve the 21 counties in Division 2 of the 6th Appellate District, which covers Northern Kentucky. She was re-elected in 2014.
“It has truly been an honor to serve on the Court of Appeals,” Judge Kramer said. “During my time on the court, I have diligently worked to apply the law fairly to all parties. I want to thank the citizens of the 6th Appellate District and my supporters for putting their trust in me to do so. It was a tremendous responsibility and I took it seriously every day and in every respect.
“I am grateful for my time on the court and the judges I have served with,” she said. “I especially want to thank my outstanding staff for their diligent work throughout the years. It takes a team to render timely decisions and run an efficient office, using tax payer dollars wisely.”
On July 1, 2016, Judge Kramer was elected by her fellow Court of Appeals judges to the position of Chief Judge for a two-year term. The chief judge provides administrative oversight to the Court of Appeals. Judge Kramer served as the chief judge pro tem from July 2012 to July 2016. Additionally, she has served on numerous committees with the Court.
Prior to her election to the Court of Appeals, she served six years as chief law clerk for William O. Bertelsman, senior judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. She has served as a staff attorney to Kentucky Court of Appeals Judges Daniel T. Guidugli and Robert W. Dyche III. As a practitioner, Kramer worked with Adams, Stepner, Woltermann & Dusing PLLC in Covington and also practiced general litigation law with Hoffman, Hoffman & Grubbs in Elsmere.
She has 29 years of public service. She was a special education teacher before attending law school.
Kramer graduated magna cum laude from Morehead State University, where she also earned a master’s degree and a Rank I teaching certificate. After teaching special education for seven years in Grant and Pendleton county schools, She earned her juris doctor from the Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law. She graduated magna cum laude and was a member of the Northern Kentucky Law Review. She received numerous scholarships and awards for academic achievement, including the Chase Excellence Scholarship. In 2016, Kramer was awarded the Chase Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award.
Judge Kramer has served as a special justice to the Kentucky Supreme Court. She is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association, the Northern Kentucky Bar Association and the Salmon P. Chase Inn of Court, where she has served as president for two years and served on the Executive Committee for several years. Judge Kramer is a graduate of Leadership Kentucky, Leadership Shelby County and Leadership Northern Kentucky, where she served on the Government Committee.
She has been active in her community and in the state through her service on numerous boards in the past, including Boone County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), the St. Elizabeth Hospice Committee, the Executive Committee of Every Child Succeeds, the Kentucky Personnel Board and the Governor’s Postsecondary Education Nominating Commission. In 2010, Judge Kramer was named an Outstanding Woman of Northern Kentucky.
Judge Kramer grew up in Menifee County and now resides in Covington, Kentucky, with her husband, Brian L. Kramer.
Because this vacancy is outside of the election cycle, a Judicial Nominating Commission will meet to fill it by appointment.
Fourteen judges, two elected from each of the seven appellate districts, serve on the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
