FRANKFORT, Ky., Sept. 15, 2021 – The Supreme Court of Kentucky will dedicate a portrait of Justice Daniel J. Venters (ret.) at a ceremony Tuesday, Sept. 21. The dedication will take place at 1:30 p.m. ET in the Supreme Court Courtroom on the second floor of the Capitol in Frankfort. The public is invited.
The portrait will hang in the corridors of the second floor of the Capitol.
Justice Venters retired from the Supreme Court in January 2019 after serving 10 years as the justice for the 3rd Supreme Court District, which is made up of 27 counties in Southern and Southeastern Kentucky. He was a member of the judiciary for 35 years, having also served as a Circuit Court judge for Lincoln, Pulaski and Rockcastle counties and a District Court judge for Pulaski and Rockcastle counties.
Artist Stephen Sawyer of Versailles, Ky., created Justice Venters’ portrait and will unveil it at the dedication ceremony along with Justice Venters’ wife, Family Court Judge Jane Adams Venters, who serves Lincoln, Pulaski and Rockcastle counties.
The event will include remarks by Justice Bill Cunningham (ret.) and the Venters’ granddaughter, Clementine Coomes.
About Justice Daniel J. Venters
Justice Venters was appointed to the Supreme Court in August 2008 by Gov. Steve Beshear to fill the vacancy created when Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert retired. Justice Venters was elected to the seat in November 2008 to finish Justice Lambert’s term and then elected for a full eight-year term in November 2010.
He served as a Circuit Court judge for Pulaski, Lincoln and Rockcastle counties from 1984-2003 and a District Court judge for Pulaski and Rockcastle counties from 1979-1984.
Justice Venters retired from the trial court bench in 2003 and returned to private law practice in his hometown of Somerset, focusing on civil litigation.
Prior to his judicial career, he was an assistant commonwealth’s attorney for Lincoln, Pulaski and Rockcastle counties from 1975-1979 under then-Commonwealth’s Attorney Hal Rogers, who is now a U.S. congressman.
Justice Venters has served as a member of the Kentucky Board of Bar Examiners and the Kentucky Bar Association Board of Governors.
He was admitted to practice law by the Kentucky Bar Association in 1975, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2001 and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky in 2004. He received his juris doctor in 1975 from the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law. Justice Venters has a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University.
Supreme Court of Kentucky
The Supreme Court is the state court of last resort and the final interpreter of Kentucky law. Seven justices sit on the Supreme Court and all seven justices rule on appeals that come before the court. The justices are elected from seven appellate districts and serve eight-year terms. A chief justice, chosen for a four-year term by fellow justices, is the administrative head of the state’s court system and is responsible for its operation. The Supreme Court may order a ruling or opinion to be published, which means that the ruling becomes the case law governing all similar cases in the future in Kentucky.
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