Kelly Thompson

Kelly David Thompson Jr. (born 1947 or 1948) is an American attorney and jurist 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.

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.

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. He replaced retiring Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. Thompson authored a concurring opinion to the supreme court's decision to enjoin Goodman's removal trial, which stated the following:

Senate president Robert Stivers and House speaker David W. Osborne filed identical resolutions in both chambers, alleging that this language constitutes a threat for both professional and criminal consequences against any member of the General Assembly who is an attorney and participates in Goodman's impeachment proceedings. The resolutions were adopted, which censured Thompson and directed for a complaint to be filed against him with the state's judicial conduct commission.

1995

1996

2003

2006

2014

2022