Today Sara Walter Combs of Stanton became the first woman elected to serve as chief judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Her colleagues on the court voted unanimously for her to fill the vacancy that will occur June 2 when current Chief Judge Thomas Emberton retires. Judge Combs also will be the first judge representing the 22 Eastern Kentucky counties of the 7th Appellate District to serve in this role.

Judge Combs had no opposition for the vote, which took place this morning at Pikeville College during the court’s regular monthly administrative meeting. The chief judge, who provides administrative oversight to the Court of Appeals, is elected for a four-year term under the Kentucky Constitution.

“I am grateful for the confidence and trust that my colleagues have placed in me,” said Judge Combs. “And I am particularly pleased that the election occurred in my home district. The 7th District also sent my late husband, Bert Combs, to the former Court of Appeals in 1951.”

Judge Combs began her service with appellate courts in 1993 when she became the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court of Kentucky. After she narrowly lost her election to retain that seat on the Supreme Court, then-Gov. Brereton Jones appointed her to a vacant seat on the Court of Appeals in 1994. She was elected to the court the following November and re-elected in 2000.

Judge Combs ranked second in her class at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, where she subsequently earned a Distinguished Alumni Award. She was valedictorian at both Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville and U of L, where she obtained an undergraduate degree in French. She also earned her master’s degree in French from U of L, having been recognized as a Woodrow Wilson Designate.

Judge Combs has taught at the high school and university levels in addition to gaining broad experience in the practice of law. She began her career as an associate with Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs in Louisville before serving as corporate counsel to an advertising company. She also practiced law with her late husband, former Gov. Bert T. Combs; established a solo practice in Stanton; and became a regional affiliate with the Louisville law firm of Mapother & Mapother. 

She is affiliated with numerous professional organizations and institutions of higher learning. She served for seven years on the Kentucky Appalachian Commission and is active as a volunteer speaker for many civic and youth organizations.

“I am delighted that the Court of Appeals has seen fit to elect Judge Combs as its chief judge,” said Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert. “Sara is known for her impressive legal mind as well as for her ability to build consensus. I expect that her administration as chief judge of the Court of Appeals will follow in the fine tradition of her predecessor, Chief Judge Tom Emberton.”

The Kentucky Court of Appeals, along with the Supreme Court of Kentucky, was formed after the 1975 enactment of the Judicial Article that created Kentucky’s unified court system. Fourteen judges, two elected from each of the seven appellate districts, serve on the Court of Appeals for terms of eight years. With a few exceptions, most cases appealed from Circuit Court go to the Court of Appeals. The case is not retried at the appeals level. Instead, the original trial record is reviewed, with attorneys presenting the legal issues to the court for a decision.

Court of Appeals judges are divided into panels of three to review and decide cases, with the majority deciding the outcome. The panels do not sit permanently in one location, but move about the state to hear appeals. When the Court of Appeals publishes its rulings on cases, those rulings become the governing case law for all such similar cases in the trial courts of Kentucky.