Kentucky Senate adopts censure of Supreme Court Justice Kelly Thompson after heated debate

The Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky on the floor adopted Senate Resolution 305 censuring Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Kelly Thompson for language in a concurring opinion that, the resolution said, threatened attorneys and legislators involved in impeachment proceedings and could lead to professional discipline or criminal prosecution.

Senator from Clay, who moved adoption of the resolution, said the justice’s separate concurring opinion went beyond interpretation and “threaten[ed] attorneys and legislators who are participating in current impeachment proceedings or could participate in future impeachment proceedings with professional discipline and criminal prosecution.” He urged colleagues to protect the General Assembly’s constitutional impeachment powers and noted that the resolution instructs the director of the Legislative Research Commission to file a complaint with the Judicial Conduct Commission.

Opponents said the censure was the wrong remedy. The senator from Jefferson 19 said she did not read Justice Thompson’s language as a threat and cautioned that judges must be insulated from reprisal so they may rule without fear. “Even if members of this body disagree with what the justice wrote in his concurrence,” she said, “the solution is not to censure a justice.” She warned that formal punishment of a judge raises constitutional and separation-of-powers questions.

Senator from Pike and other supporters defended the resolution as necessary to preserve the legislature’s authority. In floor exchanges, proponents characterized the concurring opinion as effectively threatening referral to the Kentucky Bar Association and even as describing conduct that could be a class D felony; opponents disputed that reading and emphasized judicial immunity and the need for comity among branches of government.

The Senate adopted SR 305 after floor debate by voice vote. The resolution directs the Legislative Research Commission director to file a complaint in the name of the Senate with the Judicial Conduct Commission and to include a copy of the resolution with the complaint. The resolution text cited the House’s March 20, 2026, adoption of articles of impeachment against a circuit judge and referenced an April 6, 2026, Supreme Court opinion during which Justice Thompson’s concurring remarks were published.

The action now sends the complaint process to the Judicial Conduct Commission; that body, not the Senate, will determine whether further discipline is warranted under judicial conduct rules or applicable law.