Sara W. Combs

Sara Walter Combs (born August 24, 1948) is a judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, representing the 7th Appellate District. She was the first woman and the first judge from the 7th district to serve as chief judge of the Court of Appeals, holding that position from 2004 to 2010. She was also the first woman to sit on the Kentucky Supreme Court after being appointed by Governor Brereton Jones to fill a vacancy in 1993. She lost her bid for re-election later that year. She is the widow of former Kentucky Governor Bert T. Combs. Early life and education In 1966, Walter graduated as valedictorian of her class at Louisville's Sacred Heart Academy. She matriculated to the University of Louisville, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French in 1970 and a Master of Arts in French in 1971 as a Woodrow Wilson Designate. Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation She was valedictorian of her undergraduate class and finished her M.A. degree with a 4.0 grade point average. After graduation, she taught night classes in French at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 1976. She also taught French, Spanish, and political science at Henryville High School in Henryville, Indiana. In 1979, she graduated second in her class at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law. Legal career Walter started her legal career in 1979 as a law clerk to former Kentucky Governor Bert T. Combs at the Louisville firm of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs. In a memoir, she admitted a mutual attraction between her and Combs during this time, despite the fact that both were married. In 1982, as rumors of their relationship began to spread, Walter left the firm to become corporate counsel for Louisville-based Naegele Outdoor Advertising, the state's largest billboard firm. During Walter's time at Naegele, the FBI conducted a three-year investigation of the company for overcharging customers and illegally contributing to the 1983 gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Martha Layne Collins. The scope of the investigation was narrowed after Naegele repaid customers it had overcharged, blaming the discrepancy on a clerical error. In 1987, the company rejected a plea deal on unspecified charges, and the investigation was closed months later with no charged being filed. Of the decision, Walter said, "There was nothing to plead guilty to. The FBI case was entirely the result of misinformation. ...