Sara W. Combs

Sara Walter Combs (born August 24, 1948) is a judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, representing the 7th Appellate District. She was the first woman and the first judge from the 7th district to serve as chief judge of the Court of Appeals, holding that position from 2004 to 2010. She was also the first woman to sit on the Kentucky Supreme Court after being appointed by Governor Brereton Jones to fill a vacancy in 1993. She lost her bid for re-election later that year. She is the widow of former Kentucky Governor Bert T. Combs.

Early life and education In 1966, Walter graduated as valedictorian of her class at Louisville's Sacred Heart Academy. She matriculated to the University of Louisville, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French in 1970 and a Master of Arts in French in 1971 as a Woodrow Wilson Designate. Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation She was valedictorian of her undergraduate class and finished her M.A. degree with a 4.0 grade point average. After graduation, she taught night classes in French at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 1976.

Legal career Walter started her legal career in 1979 as a law clerk to former Kentucky Governor Bert T. Combs at the Louisville firm of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs. In a memoir, she admitted a mutual attraction between her and Combs during this time, despite the fact that both were married. In 1982, as rumors of their relationship began to spread, Walter left the firm to become corporate counsel for Louisville-based Naegele Outdoor Advertising, the state's largest billboard firm. The scope of the investigation was narrowed after Naegele repaid customers it had overcharged, blaming the discrepancy on a clerical error. Walter steadfastly denied any involvement: "My advice was that no corporate contribution could be permitted." The following morning, the former governor's car was found in Rosslyn Creek on his property. Authorities said Combs had tried to navigate a flooded road when his car was swept by floodwaters into the creek. Upon his wife's death, her portion of the inheritance was requested but not required to be devised to his grandchildren. In June 1993, at the suggestion of Governor Jones, Combs announced she would seek appointment to the Kentucky Supreme Court, filling the unexpired term of Justice Dan Jack Combs (no relation), who had announced his retirement effective June 30. The seat, representing the 7th Appellate District, had once been held by her late husband. At an announcement in the Capitol Rotunda on July 16, 1993, Jones announced Combs' appointment, making her the first female justice in the court's history. David Welch, a former mayor of Ashland, was one of the applicants passed over for the appointment.

In January 1994, Governor Jones announced that he would appoint Combs to fill the seat vacated by Stumbo on the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Democratic Party Chair Grady Stumbo endorsed Combs' candidacy on the condition that she would not run against Janet Stumbo when her term expired in 1996. To retain her seat, Combs faced a nonpartisan primary election against Pikeville attorney Stephen Hogg and former Knott County attorney Deborah McCarthy. A week before the election, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Hogg, who had a distaste for political campaigning, had raised only $4,625 and spent only $1,317, and none of that in the preceding four months. Combs had spent $26,642 on her campaign. She was elected to represent the 7th Appellate District to fill the remaining six years left on Janet Stumbo's term to expire in 2000. She was re-elected in 2006 and 2014.

After Tom Emberton announced his retirement as Chief Judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, effective June 2, 2004, Combs was elected his successor by her peers on the court without opposition. She was the first woman and the first judge from the 7th District to hold that office. Combs cited cuts in the court's administrative budget as the primary reason for her decision. She also said she would like to write a book.

In 2015, after twenty-five years of widowhood, Judge Combs married Ernie Dudleson, a retired Kentucky State Trooper. She was widowed a second time when Ernie died just three years after their wedding.

Judge Combs continues her work on the Court of Appeals and the care and tending of many pets at Fern Hill.

Honors The Kentucky Bar Association named Combs its Outstanding Judge of the Year for 2010. She received the Women in Law Enforcement Network's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. She also received the University of Louisville's Distinguished Alumni Award. She served for seven years on the Appalachian Regional Commission and also sat on the boards of directors of Pikeville College (now the University of Pikeville) and Lees College (now part of Hazard Community and Technical College).