1996 Hall of Fame Inductee Robert F. Stephens Class of 1951

Bob Stephens was born in Covington, Kentucky and received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University, followed by a UK law degree in 1951. After graduation, he worked as a law clerk for the Kentucky Court of Appeals and then served as County Judge of Fayette County. It was during this time that Stephens was instrumental in bringing about the merger of city and county governments for Lexington and Fayette County. 

Stephens served as the state’s Attorney General from 1976 to 1979. While serving as Attorney General, he also served as the President of the Southern Conference of Attorney Generals; this was only the beginning of his many professional and civic activities. 

The Hon. Robert F. Stephens was appointed to the Kentucky Supreme Court in 1979 and became its Chief Justice in 1982.  He retired from the Supreme Court in 1999 after serving on Kentucky’s highest court for more than nineteen years, during sixteen of which he served as Chief Justice– longer than any previous Chief Justice. As Chief Justice, Stephens wrote the opinion that held the state’s educational system unconstitutional and set in motion the massive changes of the early 1990s that became the Kentucky Education Reform Act. 

Following his retirement from the Supreme Court of Kentucky, he was appointed by Governor Paul Patton as the Secretary of the Justice Cabinet, where he served until his death in April 2002.  

Beyond his bench, Chief Justice Stephens was a former fundraising chair for the Kentucky Heart Association, former state chair of the Arthritis Fund, former President of the Kentucky County judges Association,1984 recipient of he Herbert Harley Award, President of the National Conference of Chief Justices, and in 1986 was selected by the membership of the KBA as Kentucky’s Outstanding Judge. He remained close to his University and his law school as a former trustee of the UK Alumni Association and as an adjunct instructor at UK Law. 

Link to Chief Justice Stephen's memorial tribute from Kentucky Law Journal, Vol 91 Issue 2: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1429&context=klj