Justice Bill Cunningham
1st Supreme Court District
State Capitol, Room 235
700 Capitol Avenue
Frankfort, Ky. 40601
Phone: 502-564-5444
103 West Court Street
P.O. Box 757
Princeton, Ky. 42445-0757
Phone: 270-365-3533
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Justice Bill Cunningham was elected to the Supreme Court of Kentucky in November 2006 to serve the 1st Supreme Court District.
Before becoming a member of the state's highest court, Justice Cunningham served as a circuit court judge for 15 years. He was elected to the Circuit Court Bench in November 1991 to serve the 56th Judicial Circuit, which consists of Caldwell, Livingston, Lyon and Trigg counties. He was re-elected in 1999 and served as circuit judge until January 2007.
Justice Cunningham served the court system in several capacities before entering his judicial career. He was the Eddyville city attorney from 1974 to 1991 and public defender for the Kentucky State Penitentiary from 1974 to 1976. He served as commonwealth's attorney for the 56th Judicial District from 1976 to 1988. During his tenure in that position, he was voted the Outstanding Commonwealth Attorney of Kentucky by his peers. Justice Cunningham also served as a hearing officer for the Kentucky Board of Claims from 1981 to 1985 and as a trial commissioner for Lyon County District Court from 1989 to 1992.
Justice Cunningham earned his bachelor's degree from Murray State University in 1962 and his juris doctor in 1969 from the University of Kentucky College of Law. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served in Vietnam, Korea and Germany.
Justice Cunningham is a native of Lyon County and an author of six books about regional history, which chronicle the struggle for racial justice in western Kentucky since the Civil War. He and his wife, Paula, have five sons and four grandchildren.
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