Union College News

Chief Judge Sara W. Combs to Give
Commencement Address at Union College

The Honorable Sara Walter Combs, Chief Judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, will be the featured speaker at Union College’s Commencement on Saturday, May 5, at 11:00 AM.

Judge Combs’ distinguished legal career includes landmark cases and historic firsts. Early in her career, she worked on the school reform case which ultimately led to the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). She and her late husband, Governor Bert T. Combs, argued that the perpetual underfunding of the Commonwealth’s public education system violated state and federal constitutions. The suit was filed in 1985, withstood an appeal to the Kentucky Supreme Court, and resulted in passage of KERA in 1990.

After thirteen years in private legal practice, Judge Sara Combs became the first woman appointed to serve on Kentucky’s Supreme Court. She was later appointed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals and elected Chief Judge in 2004, another first for a woman in Kentucky. At present, Judge Combs serves as Chief Judge representing the First Division of the Seventh Judicial District.

Judge Sara Walter Combs lives in rural Eastern Kentucky, on the same farm she and Governor Combs shared until his tragic death in 1991. She is actively involved in keeping alive the vital themes of Governor Combs’ legacy through the Bert T. Combs Memorial Foundation, the Bert T. Combs Symposium, and memorial scholarships for those interested in public service and leadership in Kentucky.

May 1, 2007

[Top]