Photo Caption (Justice Stumbo portrait dedication_12062022)
Justice Janet L. Stumbo (ret.) poses with her portrait at a dedication ceremony Dec. 6 in the Supreme Court Courtroom at the Capitol. Kentucky artist Tona Barkley created the portrait and unveiled it with Justice Stumbo’s daughters at the event. (Photo by Brian Bohannon)
News Release
FRANKFORT, Ky., Dec. 21, 2022 – The Supreme Court of Kentucky dedicated a portrait of Justice Janet L. Stumbo (ret.) at a ceremony Dec. 6 in the Supreme Court Courtroom at the Capitol. The portrait will hang in the corridors of the second floor of the Capitol.
Justice Stumbo retired from the bench at the end of 2017 after 26 years of service to Kentucky’s appellate courts. The Floyd County native was elected to serve a district of 22 Eastern Kentucky counties.
Kentucky artist Tona Barkley created Justice Stumbo’s portrait and unveiled it at the ceremony with Justice Stumbo’s daughters, Samantha and Sarah Pillersdorf.
Chief Justice of Kentucky John D. Minton Jr. welcomed attendees to the ceremony, the Rev. James Butler gave the invocation and attorney John Rosenberg provided remarks. Justice Debra Hembree Lambert provided remarks on behalf of the Supreme Court. Justice Stumbo addressed the court and audience at the dedication.
About Justice Janet L. Stumbo (ret.)
Justice Stumbo was the second woman ever elected to the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the first woman from the 7th Appellate District. She was the first woman elected to the Supreme Court of Kentucky without having first been appointed.
Justice Stumbo was elected to serve the counties of Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Elliott, Floyd, Greenup, Harlan, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, Menifee, Montgomery, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike, Powell, Rowan and Wolfe.
She was first elected to the Court of Appeals in 1989 and to the Supreme Court in 1993. She was reelected to the Supreme Court in 1996. After finishing her term on the Supreme Court and taking a short break from the bench, Justice Stumbo was elected to the Court of Appeals for a second time in 2006. She was reelected for another term in 2014.
Justice Stumbo is a member of the Alumni Hall of Fame at the University of Kentucky College of Law (now the J. David Rosenberg College of Law) and at Morehead State University. Among the honors she received during her career were the Women Lawyers of Achievement Award from the Kentucky Bar Association for Women and the Bull’s Eye Award from the Women in State Government Network. The Kentucky Women Advocates awarded her with its Outstanding Justice Award for her support of adopting gender fairness into state judicial language and its Justice Award for her use of spousal abuse evidence as grounds for setting aside settlements in divorce cases and for her support in creating a shelter for abused women in Floyd County.
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 Supreme Court 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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