FRANKFORT, Ky. — For the primary time, Kentucky’s Supreme Court may have a girl at its helm, after justices on Monday chosen Debra Hembree Lambert to function the following chief justice.
Lambert, who’s at the moment the deputy chief justice, will serve a four-year time period on the high of the judicial system starting Jan. 6, court docket officers introduced.
“While it might be notable that I would be the first lady to function chief justice in Kentucky, I’m most proud to be a small-town child from the mountains of jap Kentucky who has had a variety of assist and encouragement alongside the best way,” Lambert mentioned.
She will succeed Laurance B. VanMeter as chief justice. VanMeter opted to not search reelection this yr.
The state Supreme Court has 4 males and three ladies as justices. Lambert mentioned she’s honored to have been chosen by her colleagues and mentioned it is not simple main the state’s judicial department.
“Our judges, clerks and administrative staff deal with massive dockets and particular applications with nice effectivity,” she mentioned.
VanMeter praised his soon-to-be successor as a hard-working and devoted decide with greater than 17 years of expertise on the bench, together with as a decide in household court docket and on the state Court of Appeals.
“I’m assured that Chief Justice-elect Lambert will lead the judicial department with integrity and make sure the environment friendly and honest administration of justice,” mentioned VanMeter, who assumed the function of chief justice firstly of 2023.
Lambert was elected as a Supreme Court justice in 2018, and her district consists of parts of jap, southern and central Kentucky. She heads the Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health.
Before reaching the appellate bench, Lambert was a decide for a judicial circuit that included Lincoln, Pulaski and Rockcastle counties. As a household court docket decide, she created the primary drug court docket within the space. For a number of years, she volunteered in center colleges, working with at-risk kids and households to assist them keep away from truancy fees.
Lambert volunteers as an authorized suicide prevention coach, educating others the right way to intervene to forestall suicide.
The Bell County native earned a bachelor’s diploma from Eastern Kentucky University and graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1989. She practiced regulation in Mount Vernon, serving as an assistant commonwealth’s lawyer and metropolis lawyer for town in jap Kentucky. In 2007, Lambert resumed her personal regulation apply there till her election to the Court of Appeals in 2014.
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