List of first women lawyers and judges in Kentucky

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This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Kentucky. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in Kentucky's history[edit]

Sophonisba Breckinridge: First female lawyer in Kentucky (1895)

Lawyers[edit]

State judges[edit]

  • First female: Kathleen Mulligan in 1928[6][7]
  • First female (Kentucky Court of Appeals): Judy Moberly West in 1987[8]
  • First African American female: Janice R. Martin (1977) in 1991[9][10]
  • First female elected (Kentucky Supreme Court): Janet Stumbo in 1993[11]
  • First female to sit (Kentucky Supreme Court): Sara Walter Combs (1979) in 1993[12]
  • First female (Sixth Judicial District): Lisa Ann Payne in 2001[13]
  • First female (Chief Judge; Kentucky Court of Appeals): Sara Walter Combs (1979) from 2004 to 2010[12]
  • First African American female (Kentucky Court of Appeals): Denise G. Clayton in 2007[14]
  • First female (Forty-Third Judicial Circuit): Traci Peppers in 2014[15]
  • First female (Nineteenth Judicial District Court): Kim Leet Razor in 2018[16]
  • First female (Third Supreme Court District of the Supreme Court of Kentucky): Debra Hembree Lambert in 2019[17]
  • First African American female (circuit court): Denise G. Clayton[14]
  • First Latino American female: Ellie Kerstetter in 2020[18]
  • First openly lesbian female (family court): Shelley Santry in 2022[19]
  • First African American (female) (Chief Judge; Kentucky Court of Appeals):[20] Denise G. Clayton in 2023

Federal judges[edit]

  • First female (Eastern District of Kentucky): Julia Kurtz Tackett[21][22]
  • First female (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky; U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky: Jennifer B. Coffman (1978) in 1993[23]

Assistant Attorney General[edit]

  • First female: Blanche Mackey in 1943[24][25]

Firsts in local history[edit]

  • Traci Peppers:[15] First female to serve on the Forty-Third Judicial Circuit in Kentucky (Barren and Metcalfe Counties, Kentucky; 2014)
  • Kim Leet Razor:[16] First female to serve on the Nineteenth Judicial District Court in Kentucky (2018) [Bracken, Fleming, and Mason Counties, Kentucky]
  • Julia Fields:[26][27] First female to serve as a Judge of the District Court in the Oldham-Trimble-Henry County District, Kentucky (1983)
  • Betty Springate (1979):[28] First female lawyer in Anderson County, Kentucky
  • Martha Agnes (Gunn) Howle:[29] First female magistrate in Ballard County, Kentucky
  • Lynne Pierce Dean:[30] First female to serve as the County Attorney for Boyle County, Kentucky (2017)
  • Tina Teegarden:[16] First female judge-executive in Bracken County, Kentucky (2018)
  • Rebecca Sue Ward (1986):[31] First female judge in Bullitt County, Kentucky (1999)
  • Lisa Ann Payne:[13] First female to serve on the Sixth Judicial District in Kentucky (2001) [Daviess County, Kentucky]
  • Julia Kurtz Tackett:[21][22] First female Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in Fayette County, Kentucky (c. 1974)
  • Margaret Kannensohn:[32][33] First female to serve as the County Attorney for Fayette County, Kentucky (c. 1995)
  • Cassie J. Patrick Allen:[34] First female member of the Floyd County Bar Association, Kentucky
  • Phyllis Sharon Bowles (1985):[35] First female admitted to the Hart County Bar Association in Kentucky
  • Denise G. Clayton:[14] First African American female to serve as a circuit judge in Jefferson County, Kentucky
  • Shelley Santry:[19] First openly lesbian female to serve as a Judge of the Jefferson Family Court (2022)
  • Yvette De La Guardia:[36] First Latino American female elected as a District Judge in Jefferson County (2022)
  • Rebecca Westerfield:[37] First female to serve as President of the Louisville Bar Association [Jefferson County, Kentucky]
  • Ruth Long Wells: First female attorney in Johnson County, Kentucky (1928). Ms. Wells was admitted to the Kentucky Bar in 1928 and was a member of the law firm of Wells & Wells (currently Porter, Banks, Baldwin & Shaw, PLLC) in Paintsville, Kentucky.
  • Judy Moberly West:[8] First female to serve on the Kenton County District Court in Kentucky (1980)
  • Durenda Lundy Lawson:[38] First female judge in Knox County, Kentucky (2006)
  • Fredora P. Lay:[39] First female to serve as the County Attorney for Laurel County, Kentucky (1969)
  • Sue Carol Browning:[40][41] First female judge in Logan County, Kentucky
  • Melissa Fannin Phelps:[42] First female to serve as the County Attorney for Martin County, Kentucky (2018)
  • Nancy C. Doty:[43][26] First female elected as a Judge of the Oldham County Fiscal Court (1981–1988)
  • Flora Templeton Stuart (c. 1976):[44] First female lawyer to try a case before a jury in Bowling Green, Kentucky [Warren County, Kentucky]
  • Amy Hale Milliken:[45] First female to serve as the County Attorney for Warren County, Kentucky (2004)

See also[edit]

Other topics of interest[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Goodwin, Neva (2015-07-17). Encyclopedia of Women in American History. Routledge. ISBN 9781317471622.
  2. ^ "Alumni Information -- Louisville Municipal College -- University of Louisville". louisville.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  3. ^ "White, Albert S., Sr. and Sally J. Seals · Notable Kentucky African Americans Database". nkaa.uky.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  4. ^ "Alumna pushes for more investigation into death of civil rights leader — Louis D. Brandeis School of Law". louisville.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  5. ^ "Jones, Alberta O. · Notable Kentucky African Americans Database". nkaa.uky.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  6. ^ Klotter, James C. (1996). Kentucky: Portrait in Paradox, 1900–1950. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0916968243.
  7. ^ Wright, John Dean (1982). Lexington: Heart of the Bluegrass. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0912839066.
  8. ^ a b "Kentucky Commission on Human Rights Hall of Fame 2014". kchr.ky.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  9. ^ "Martin, Janice R. · Notable Kentucky African Americans Database". nkaa.uky.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  10. ^ "The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky on November 9, 1996 · Page 15". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  11. ^ "She was first woman elected to Ky. Supreme Court. After 26 years, she's leaving the bench". AppalReD Legal Aid. 2017-10-23. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
  12. ^ a b "Court of Appeals Judge Sara Walter Combs". courts.ky.gov. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  13. ^ a b "Patton appoints first female judge to the 6th Judicial District". governors.e-archives.ky.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  14. ^ a b c "Court of Appeals Judge Denise Clayton". courts.ky.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  15. ^ a b OVERSTREET, MELINDA J. "Peppers to be interim family court judge". Glasgow Daily Times. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  16. ^ a b c Independent, Ledger (2018-11-07). "Razor, Teegarden make history". Ledger Independent – Maysville Online. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  17. ^ Journal, Commonwealth. "Lambert sworn in as Supreme Court Justice". Commonwealth Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  18. ^ Johnson, Stephan. "Kentucky's first Latina judge takes the bench". WDRB. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  19. ^ a b Toledo, César. "Santry, Shelley". LGBTQ Victory Fund. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  20. ^ "Denise Clayton - Kentucky Court of Justice". kycourts.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  21. ^ a b "Julia Kurtz Tackett, one of Kentucky's first female judges and prosecutors, dies at 70". kentucky. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  22. ^ a b "Julia Kurtz Tackett | UK College of Law". law.uky.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  23. ^ "U.S. District Judge Jennifer Coffman to retire from the bench". kentucky. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  24. ^ "The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky on December 17, 1947 · Page 15". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  25. ^ "Women's Legal History | Biographical Search". Women's Legal History. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  26. ^ a b "RoundAbout Entertainment Guide - A measure of success". www.roundabout.bz. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  27. ^ "Interview with Julia Fields | Pass the Word". passtheword.ky.gov. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  28. ^ History and Families, Anderson County, Kentucky. Turner Publishing Company. 1991. ISBN 9781563110078.
  29. ^ Chapel, Morrow Funeral. "Obituary for Martha Agnes (Gunn) Howle | Morrow Funeral Chapel". Obituary for Martha Agnes (Gunn) Howle | Morrow Funeral Chapel. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  30. ^ "Alumni Notes" (PDF). THIRD & BROADWAY. Winter 2017.
  31. ^ "Rebecca Sue Ward | McFarland-Troutman-Proffitt". www.mcfarlandtroutmanfuneralhome.com. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  32. ^ Kentucky Law Journal. University of Kentucky, College of Law. 1995.
  33. ^ The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. Kentucky Historical Society. 2001.
  34. ^ McCauley, Cory. "Former Floyd County attorney Cassie Allen dead at 95". www.wymt.com. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  35. ^ "Our Kentucky Law Tradition -- 100 years of Service to Central Kentucky". Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  36. ^ Donis, Jose (2022-12-23). "Yvette De La Guardia, la primera juez latina en Louisville". Al Dia en América (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  37. ^ "Interviewer: Rebecca Westerfield" (PDF). American Bar Association.
  38. ^ "Families first". The Times-Tribune.com. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  39. ^ Pennington Pedigrees. Pennington Research Association. 1999.
  40. ^ "Browning's success, community involvement helped prepare her to be district judge". The Logan Journal. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  41. ^ "September News Briefs". The Logan Journal. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  42. ^ "MARTIN CO. ATTORNEY RETIRES EARLY, TURNS REINS OVER TO PHELPS". TheLevisaLazer.com - The Levisa Lazer. 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  43. ^ "Interview with Nancy C. Doty | Pass the Word". passtheword.ky.gov. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  44. ^ "About Us". Flora Templeton Stuart Injury lawyer. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  45. ^ "Our Staff". Warren County Attorney. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
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