Samuel T. Wright III

Samuel T. Wright
Samuel T. Wright
Associate Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court
	In office; December 7, 2015 – January 3, 2021
Preceded by	David Allen Barber
Succeeded by	Robert B. Conley
Personal details
Born	1955 (age 65–66); Letcher County, Kentucky, U.S.
Parents	S.T. Wright II and Gladys Hall Wright
Alma mater	Hazard Community College; University of Kentucky College of Law

Samuel T. Wright III (born 1955) is a former Associate Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court. He was elected to the Supreme Court in November 2015, and lost re-election in 2020.

Early life

Wright was born and raised in Letcher County, Kentucky.[1]

Education

He received an associate degree from Hazard Community College and his bachelor's degree from the University of Kentucky. He earned his Juris Doctor from University of Kentucky College of Law.[1]

Judicial career

Wright previously worked as a trial judge for more than 23 years in Letcher County.[2] He was serving in his fourth term as Letcher County Circuit Court judge when he was elected to the Supreme Court.

He was first appointed to fill a vacancy on Circuit Court by Governor Brereton Jones in 1993 and was then elected. Prior to taking the Circuit Court bench, Justice Wright was the District Court judge for Letcher County for a year.[1]

Prior to becoming a judge, Justice Wright was practicing law as an attorney. After graduating law school in 1981, he returned to Eastern Kentucky to join the law firm of Cook and Wright. He went on to open his own law practice in 1989.[1]

Kentucky Supreme Court

In January 2015 Wright filed paperwork to run for a seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court.[2] He was elected on November 3, 2015 defeating his challenger Janet Stumbo,[3] and was sworn in on December 7, 2015.[4] He replaced David Allen Barber, who was appointed in March 2015.

Personal life

Wright and his wife have two sons living in eastern Kentucky. One is a wildlife biologist; as of 2015 the other was studying computer programming.[1]

Electoral history

Source: Commonwealth of Kentucky, For the office of Justice of the Supreme Court, November 3, 2015

Kentucky Supreme Court Seat 7 election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Non Partisan	Samuel T. Wright III	40,676	51.9
	Non Partisan	Janet Stumbo	37,772	48.1

References

"Samuel T. Wright Official Biography". Kentucky Supreme Court. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
Barto, Sally (January 21, 2015). "Wright thought hard about decision to seek new office". The Mountain Eagle. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
Estep, Bill (November 3, 2015). "Letcher Circuit Judge Sam Wright defeats Judge Janet Stumbo for state Supreme Court". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
"Samuel T. Wright of Letcher County sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court, takes 7th district seat". North Kentucky Tribune. December 7, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2016.

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by David Allen Barber	Associate Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court 2015–2021	Succeeded by Robert B. Conley

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[SupremeCourt-1] "Samuel T. Wright Official Biography". Kentucky Supreme Court. Retrieved April 10, 2016.

[MountainEagle-2] Barto, Sally (January 21, 2015). "Wright thought hard about decision to seek new office". The Mountain Eagle. Retrieved April 10, 2016.

[3] Estep, Bill (November 3, 2015). "Letcher Circuit Judge Sam Wright defeats Judge Janet Stumbo for state Supreme Court". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved April 10, 2016.

[4] "Samuel T. Wright of Letcher County sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court, takes 7th district seat". North Kentucky Tribune. December 7, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2016.