Sara W. Combs
| Sara Walter Combs | |
|---|---|
| Associate Judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals | |
|
Assumed office January 27, 1994 |
|
| Appointed by | Brereton Jones |
| Preceded by | Janet Stumbo |
| Chief Judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals | |
|
In office June 2, 2004 – May 13, 2010 |
|
| Preceded by | Tom Emberton |
| Succeeded by | Jeff S. Taylor |
| Associate Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court | |
|
In office July 16, 1993 – November 3, 1993 |
|
| Appointed by | Brereton Jones |
| Preceded by | Dan Jack Combs |
| Succeeded by | Janet Stumbo |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Sara Walter August 24, 1948 |
| Spouse(s) | Bert T. Combs (m. 1988; d. 1991) |
| Residence | Fern Creek |
| Alma mater | University of Louisville; University of Louisville School of Law |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Known for | First female justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court; first female chief Judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals |
| Awards |
Kentucky Bar Association Outstanding Judge of the Year (2010) Women in Law Enforcement Network Lifetime Achievement Award (2014) |
Sara Walter Combs (born August 24, 1948) is a justice on 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 justice 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.
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; she was valedictorian of her undergraduate class. After graduation, she taught night classes in French at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 1976. She also taught French, Spanish, and political science at Henryville High School in Henryville, Indiana. In 1979, she graduated second in her class as a Woodrow Wilson Designate at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law.
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.
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