FRANKFORT, Ky., Aug. 2, 2021 – Kate Morgan has returned to the Kentucky Court of Appeals as its new clerk after having served as a staff attorney for Court of Appeals Judge Glenn E. Acree from 2010-2018. Morgan was sworn in today via Zoom by Court of Appeals Chief Judge Denise G. Clayton.
“The Court of Appeals is pleased to welcome Kate back,” Chief Judge Clayton said. “She has dedicated her career to public service and has a deep understanding of Kentucky’s appellate rules of practice and procedure. We are fortunate to have her as our new clerk.”
Morgan comes back to the court from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, where she was a regional staff attorney prosecuting termination of parental rights cases and helping children in the foster care system get permanent homes. She successfully defended the agency in appellate cases before the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Kentucky.
The appellate clerk is appointed by the court and responsible for the custody, control and storage of all appellate records. Morgan succeeds Court of Appeals Clerk Rebecca Combs Lyon, who retired Aug. 1 after more than 30 years of service to the Judicial Branch.
“I am humbled to have been chosen for this position,” Morgan said. “I look forward to serving the court and the public with dignity and respect and will endeavor to continue the excellent service provided by Becky Lyon to the citizens of this commonwealth. It is an honor to have the trust and confidence placed in me by the judges of this court.”
Morgan graduated summa cum laude from the Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 2009. She was ranked third in her law school class and served as editor-in-chief of the Northern Kentucky Law Review. As a member of the inaugural Chase Arbitration Team, she won the regional championship and earned a bid to the national arbitration competition.
She resides in Frankfort with her husband, Aaron, and their two children.
About the Kentucky Court of Appeals
The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court. With a few exceptions, most cases appealed from Circuit Court go to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals also handles appeals of a Circuit Court decision on a District Court judgment. The case is not retried at the appeals level. Instead, the original trial record is reviewed, with attorneys presenting the legal issues to the Court of Appeals for a decision.
Fourteen judges, two elected from each of the seven appellate districts, serve for eight-year terms. Court of Appeals judges are divided into panels of three to review and decide cases, with the majority deciding the outcome. The panels do not sit permanently in one location, but move around the state to hear appeals. The Court of Appeals occasionally publishes its rulings on cases, which means that those rulings become the governing case law for all future similar cases in Kentucky.