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Christopher Shea Nickell (born 1958 or 1959) is an American lawyer who has served a justice of the
Kentucky Supreme Court The Kentucky Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Prior to its creation by constitutional amendment in 1975, the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky. The Kentucky Court of Ap ...
.


Education

Nickell, a native of
Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern Unit ...
, graduated from the city's Paducah Tilghman High School in 1977, followed by a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
from
DePauw University DePauw University ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury College and changed its name to DePauw University in 1884. The college has a Methodist heritage and was ...
in 1981 and a
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from the
University of Kentucky College of Law The University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, also known as UK Rosenberg College of Law, is the law school of the University of Kentucky located in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded initially from a law program at Transylvania Univers ...
in 1984.


Career

Prior to being appointed as a judge, Nickell practiced law for 22 years. He served as an instructor at
Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...
teaching Insurance and Risk Management and he also taught at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
teaching jurisprudence.


State court service

In 2006, Nickell was elected to be a judge of the
Kentucky Court of Appeals The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illino ...
.


Kentucky Supreme Court service

On February 6, 2019, Nickell announced he was running for the seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court vacated by the retirement of Bill Cunningham. He was elected on November 5, 2019, defeating state senator Whitney Westerfield. He was sworn into office on December 11, 2019.


Associations and memberships

Nickell has been a member of the Paducah Lions Club since 1989. He is also an
Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...
, he has been recognized as a
Kentucky Colonel Kentucky Colonel is the highest title of honor bestowed by the US state of Kentucky. It is the most well-known colonelcy in the United States. A Kentucky Colonel Commission (the certificate) is awarded in the name of the Commonwealth by the go ...
, Honorary Captain of the '' Belle of Louisville'' and a
Sagamore of the Wabash The Governor of Indiana, Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana can bestow five types of awards: the Sagamore of the Wabash, the Circle of Corydon, the Distinguished Hoosier, the Honorary Hoosier, and the Sachem Award. Given at the Governor's dis ...
. He is a Life Sponsor of
Ducks Unlimited Ducks Unlimited (DU) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people. History and profile In 1927, an offshoot of the Boone and ...
. He is also a 32 Degree Mason, a Silver Life Member of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
, a Life Fellow of the Kentucky Bar Foundation, a
Gideon Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites is recounted in of the Book of Judges in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible. Gideon was th ...
, and a deacon at Paducah's Heartland Church.


Personal life

Nickell and his wife, Carolyn S. Watson are both a Melvin Jones Fellow.


Electoral history


References


External links

* 1950s births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers Baptists from Kentucky DePauw University alumni Judges of the Kentucky Court of Appeals Kentucky lawyers Justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court Murray State University faculty Paducah Tilghman High School alumni People from Paducah, Kentucky University of Kentucky College of Law alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty {{Kentucky-state-judge-stub