Stephen B. Pence (born December 22, 1953) is an American attorney who was the 53rd

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

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 Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

from 2003 to 2007. He took office with fellow Republican

Ernie Fletcher Ernest Lee Fletcher (born November 12, 1952) is an American physician and politician who was the List of governors of Kentucky, 60th governor of Kentucky from 2003 to 2007. He previously served three consecutive terms in the United States House ...

in December 2003.

Education

Pence received BS (1976) and

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

(1978) degrees from

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. It also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, and Manchester and offers over 40 online undergraduate and graduate options. History Founding ...

, 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 The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

in 1981. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Eastern Kentucky University in 2004.

Early career

After law school, Pence worked as an assistant attorney general of Kentucky from 1981 to 1982. From 1982 to 1987 he served active duty in the

JAG Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG or JAG Corps) is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judge advocates ...

and was stationed in the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. Pence was an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

for the

Western District of Kentucky The United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (in case citations, W.D. Ky.) is the federal district court for the western part of the state of Kentucky. Appeals from the Western District of Kentucky are taken to the Unite ...

from 1990 to 1995 where he prosecuted a series of high-profile corruption cases, including those in

Operation BOPTROT Operation Boptrot, also referred to as Boptrot, was an investigation by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into corruption among the Kentucky General Assembly, the Commonwealth's legislature. The operation was highly successful ...

, an FBI investigation that ended in the convictions of over 20 legislators and lobbyists. He received the Kentucky Bar Association's "Outstanding Lawyer Award". He later became partner with the Pedley, Zielke, Gordinier and Pence law firm (1995–2001).

US Attorney

Pence was appointed by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

as the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Western District of Kentucky and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to this position on September 24, 2001.

Lieutenant governor

He left the U.S. Attorney's Office in May 2003, to be the Republican Party's nominee for lieutenant governor when Ernie Flecher's original running mate, Hunter Bates, was disqualified from the ticket. They were elected in November 2003. He was the first Republican lieutenant governor to be elected in Kentucky in over five decades. As lieutenant governor, he served at various times as Secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, Commissioner of

State Police State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...

and Director of Homeland Security. He also was chairman of the Louisville Arena Task Force. On May 31, 2006, just a few weeks after Fletcher had been indicted on charges relating to the practices of hiring, promoting, and firing based on political affiliation, Pence he announced that he would not run for re-election with Fletcher in 2007, had no plans for any other elective office, and would no longer serve as Secretary of the Justice & Public Safety Cabinet. Less than two weeks later, Fletcher accelerated Pence's departure from the Justice Cabinet and named Kentucky National Guard Adjutant General Norman Arflack as Pence's replacement. Fletcher also asked Pence to resign from his role of lieutenant governor, but Pence refused, indicating that he serves as an elected representative of the people. Although Pence maintained that he did not separate himself from Fletcher's re-election effort in order to run for public office himself, there was speculation that he has not ruled out the possibility at some point in the future. In June 2006, Governor Fletcher announced that Robert "Robbie" Rudolph, secretary of the state Finance Cabinet, would be his running mate in his 2007 re-election campaign. As momentum for Kentucky's gubernatorial race began to build, Pence announced in January 2007 that he would not be a candidate for governor, and planned to return to the practice of law once his term of office ended. On February 25, 2007, Pence formally endorsed former

Congresswoman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

Anne Northup over Fletcher in the 2007 governor's race. Fletcher was not elected to a second term, winning the primary election against Northup but ultimately losing the general election to Democrat

Steve Beshear Steven Lynn Beshear ( ; born September 21, 1944) is an American attorney and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 61st governor of Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 ...

Current career

In February 2008, Pence retired as a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

from the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

, where he served as a military judge in the

. He was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

for his service. In April 2008, Pence was as one of the initial 38 inductees into the

Doss High School Doss High School is a high school located in southwestern Louisville, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2017–2018 school year, there were 1,040 students at the school. Initial naming The school was originally proposed as Wisertown High Sch ...

Hall of Fame. Pence now practices law in Louisville, Kentucky. Pence served as Rick Pitino's attorney during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal and Pitino's subsequent ouster from the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

and lawsuit against

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

. In March 2018, Pence settled a complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The commission alleged Pence misled auditors in relation to his interaction with convicted felon Wilbur Anthony Huff and his role as chairman of General Employment Enterprises, Inc. Pence denied any wrongdoing.

Personal

Pence is married to the former Ruth Ann Cox, a practicing attorney in Louisville, Kentucky. Pence has five children: Eileen Pence, Peter Pence, Kay Pence, Joseph Pence and Paige Pence.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pence, Steve 1953 births Assistant United States attorneys Eastern Kentucky University alumni Kentucky lawyers Kentucky Republicans Lieutenant governors of Kentucky Living people Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky State cabinet secretaries of Kentucky United States attorneys for the Western District of Kentucky University of Kentucky alumni University of Kentucky College of Law alumni Doss High School alumni Operation Boptrot 21st-century Kentucky politicians