A western Kentucky judge has been named deputy chief judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, and it’s a familiar name to those in the justice system.
According to a news release, Appeals Chief Judge Larry Thompson has appointed Court of Appeals Judge J. Christopher McNeil to serve as the new deputy chief judge, and he will begin serving in that role on January 1. The deputy chief judge provides administrative oversight to the Court of Appeals in the chief judge’s absence.
Judge McNeill of Western Kentucky was elected from the 1st Appellate District and took office in May 2020 to fill an unexpired term on the Court of Appeals and was reelected for a full eight-year term in November 2022. The district is comprised of 23 western Kentucky counties, including Ballard, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Daviess, Fulton, Graves, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, McLean, Muhlenberg, Todd, Trigg, Union and Webster.
Before serving as a Court of Appeals judge, Judge McNeill worked in private civil practice and was a staff attorney for the Kentucky Court of Appeals. He later became a directing attorney for the Public Defender’s Office in McCracken County, overseeing more than 70,000 cases across Western Kentucky.