(LEX 18) — Chief Justice John Minton, Jr. plans to retire from the Kentucky Supreme Court and will not seek re-election next year.
He made the announcement in an interview with WKU Public Radio.
"One of the rules of traditional politics would be that an elected official, such as the chief justice, would never confirm that he wasn’t seeking re-election because the concern is that you become immediately irrelevant," said Minton in the interview. "Well, I don't intend to become irrelevant. I’ve got more than a year left to serve."
Minton has spent a combined 30 years on the bench, first as a circuit judge and then a Kentucky Court of Appeals judge. He was elected to the state Supreme Court in 2006. His fellow justices elected him for a four-year term as chief justice in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020. He is only the second chief justice in Kentucky to be chosen to serve four terms.
His term expires on January 1, 2023. Voters will choose Minton's successor in a non-partisan election next November. The seven justices will then choose who they want to become chief justice.
