Bill Cunningham (judge)

For other people named Bill Cunningham, see Bill Cunningham (disambiguation).

William Harold Cunningham (born October 15, 1944)^[1] is an American former prosecutor and former Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court. He was elected to the court in November 2006 to represent the first Appellate District. He announced he would retire in early 2019.^[2]

Bill Cunningham
Cunningham in 2016
Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court
In office January 1, 2007 – February 1, 2019
Preceded by	William Graves
Succeeded by	David Buckingham
Judge of the 56th Kentucky Circuit Court
In office January 6, 1992 – January 1, 2007
Preceded by	Willard B. Paxton
Succeeded by	C. A. Woodall III
Commonwealth's Attorney for the 56th Kentucky Circuit Court
In office November 1976 – January 4, 1988
Preceded by	Circuit created by 1976 (ex. 1) Ky. Acts ch. 14
Succeeded by	G. L. Ovey Jr.
Personal details
Born	William Harold Cunningham (1944-10-15) October 15, 1944 (age 80) Eddyville, Kentucky, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Paula Trull
Children	Joe, John, David, Luke, and Joshua Cunningham
Residence	Kuttawa, Kentucky
Alma mater	Murray State University (BA) University of Kentucky (JD)

Education

Cunningham earned his bachelor's degree from Murray State University in 1966 and his Juris Doctor in 1969 from the University of Kentucky College of Law.

Early judicial career

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.

Cunningham also served as a hearing officer for the Kentucky Board of Claims from 1981 to 1985 and as a trial commissioner for the Lyon County District court from 1989 to 1992.

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.

He was elected in 2006 to a seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court.^[3] He retired on February 1, 2019, after a 40-year judicial career.^[4]

Personal life

Born in Eddyville,^[5] Cunningham is a native of Kuttawa, Kentucky in Lyon County and an author of five books about regional history, which chronicle the struggle for racial justice in western Kentucky since the American Civil War as well as a book about the history of the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville.

He is a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served in Korea, Germany, and Vietnam.

He and his wife, Paula Trull, have five sons and eleven grandchildren. His son, Joe, is a former U.S. Representative from South Carolina's 1st congressional district.^[6]