Kentucky Supreme Court
The chamber of the Kentucky Supreme Court
Interactive map of Kentucky Supreme Court
Established	1976
Jurisdiction	Kentucky, United States
Location	Frankfort, Kentucky
Composition method	Non-partisan election
Authorized by	Kentucky Constitution
Appeals to	Supreme Court of the United States
Number of positions	7
Website	Official Website
Chief Justice
Currently	Debra H. Lambert
Since	January 6, 2025

TheKentucky Supreme Court is thestate supreme court of theU.S. state ofKentucky. Prior to its creation by constitutional amendment in 1975, theKentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court inKentucky. The Kentucky Court of Appeals is now Kentucky's intermediate appellate court.

Criminal appeals involving a sentence ofdeath,life imprisonment, or imprisonment of twenty years or more are heard directly by the Kentucky Supreme Court, bypassing the Kentucky Court of Appeals. All other cases are heardon a discretionary basis on appeal from the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

The Kentucky Supreme Court promulgates the Rules of Court and Rules of Evidence. Through two of its subagencies, the Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions (KYOBA) and Kentucky Bar Association (KBA), it is the final arbiter for bar admissions (KYOBA) and discipline (KBA).

In the event that two or more justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court recuse themselves from a case, theGovernor of Kentucky appoints Special Justices to sit for that particular case.

The court meets in a courtroom located on the second floor of theKentucky State Capitol inFrankfort. The second floor of the capitol building is also home to offices for the justices and Supreme Court personnel.

The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), under the aegis of the Kentucky Supreme Court, serves as the administrative support agency for Kentucky courts andCircuit Court Clerks. The role of the AOC is similar to that of theLegislative Research Commission (LRC) for theKentucky General Assembly.

In its short history, the Kentucky Supreme Court has not produced much jurisprudence of note. A study published in 2007 by theSupreme Court of California found that of all state supreme courts in the United States, the decisions of the Kentucky Supreme Court were the least followed by other states' appellate courts.^[1]

Notable decisions of the Kentucky Supreme Court includeKentucky v. Wasson, 842 S.W.2d 487 (Ky. 1992), in which the court invalidated the criminalization of same-sex sodomy as a state equal protection violation. This Kentucky decision, based on theKentucky Constitution, was made at a time when the applicable federalequal protection precedent wasBowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986), which held that federal constitutional protection of the right of privacy was not implicated in laws penalizing homosexual sodomy. In 2003, the United States Supreme Court reversed itself and overturnedBowers, issuing a decision inLawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) that mirrored Kentucky'sWasson ruling.

InCameron v EMW Women's Surgical Center et al. (2023), the Court upheld Kentucky's total abortion ban by holding that abortion providers lack standing to challenge the statutes on behalf of their patients. The Court did not rule on the constitutionality of the ban.^[2]

Justices are elected in nonpartisan elections to eight-year terms. In case of a vacancy the governor makes an appointment from a list of three names provided by the Kentucky Judicial Nominating Commission.

• Courts of Kentucky

• Website of the Kentucky Supreme Court
• Database of Kentucky Supreme Court OpinionsArchived 2009-09-17 at theWayback Machine

• Kentucky law
• Kentucky state courts
• State supreme courts of the United States
• 1976 establishments in Kentucky
• Courts and tribunals established in 1976

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