A committee has nominated three candidates to replace former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott, who resigned in January to enter the Republican race for governor.
Scott was elected to his seat on the state’s highest court in 2004, representing the 7th Supreme Court District covering much Eastern Kentucky.
The nominees announced Thursday are all Eastern Kentucky attorneys—David Allen Barber from Prestonsburg, Roger Donald Riggs from Mount Sterling and Janet Stumbo from Van Lear.
Barber is an adviser for House Speaker Greg Stumbo, a Democrat from Prestonsburg, and served as a Kentucky Court of Appeals judge from 2000 to 2007.
Riggs was a judge in the Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims, which deals with worker’s compensation claims in the state.
Janet Stumbo has been a Kentucky Court of Appeals judge for the last seven years. She held the 7th District seat from 1993 to 2004 but was defeated by Will T. Scott. Janet Stumbo is distantly related to Greg Stumbo.
The Judicial Nominating Commission is led by Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John D. Minton. Gov. Steve Beshear has 60 days to appoint one of the nominees to the seat.