Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John D. Minton, Jr., who recently announced he would not seek another eight-year term, has been inducted into the University of Kentucky Rosenberg College of Law Alumni Association Hall of Fame.
The action was taken in recognition of his body of work, as well as what the association termed exceptional guidance of the state court system during the COVID-19 pandemic and past economic downturns.
Justice Menton and Dean Mary Davis
“Chief Justice Minton is very deserving of induction into the Rosenberg Law Alumni Association Hall of Fame,” said UK Law School Dean Mary J. Davis. “He is a deeply thoughtful jurist, a leader in the legal profession, and dedicated to serving students of the law. His leadership of the courts during the pandemic is just one example of the impact of his service to the legal profession. We are so pleased for his induction into the Hall of Fame.”
The UK Law Alumni Association Hall of Fame was established to acknowledge graduates and former faculty of the College, whose extraordinary professional success and contributions, profound positive influence on the College of Law, and high degree of character and integrity are recognized by their peers.
“It is an honor to have my name called this evening and my picture hung here among those of the many law alumni whose lifetime of accomplishments have brought credit not only to themselves but to our profession and the law school that prepared us,” Minton stated.
Minton, of Bowling Green, was elected to the Supreme Court of Kentucky in 2006 and re-elected to another eight-year term in 2014. His fellow justices elected him for a four-year term as chief justice in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. He is only the second chief justice in Kentucky to be chosen to serve four terms.
In July 2017, he completed a one-year term as president of the Conference of Chief Justices and chair of the National Center for State Courts Board of Directors. Chief Justice Minton was the first chief justice from Kentucky to hold this post in nearly 25 years. He was appointed to the State Justice Institute Board of Directors in 2016 and currently serves as board chair. SJI is a federal nonprofit corporation that awards grants to improve the quality of justice in state courts.
Minton was in private practice for 15 years before serving as a circuit judge from 1992 to 2003 and a Kentucky Court of Appeals judge from 2003 to 2006. He earned his undergraduate degree from Western Kentucky University, before being awarded his J.D. from the UK Law School.
