Robert B. Conley

Conley attended Russell High School in Flatwoods, Kentucky in 1976.^[2] He received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Kentucky in 1981 and his Juris Doctor from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 1984.,^[3] while at the University of Kentucky and during his first year in law school, he worked for ARMCO Steel Inc. as a steelworker.^[4] Prior to his judicial career, he was an associate with the law firm McKenzie, Woolery & Eurick PSC and then as a corporate attorney with Addington Mining/Addington Environmental Inc.^[4]

Conley was elected district judge for Greenup and Lewis Counties in 1995 and served in that capacity until being elected as circuit judge for the same counites in 2006.^[5] Conley served as circuit judge until his election to the Supreme Court in 2020.

On January 10, 2020, Conley filed to be a candidate for justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court.^[5][6] Conley and his opponent, Chris Harris, both received the most votes in the June primary, advancing them to the general election.^[7] During his run for the Kentucky Supreme Court he received a public reprimand from the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission in part for jailing a defendant for three days for contempt of court without conducting a hearing.^[8][9] Conley went on to explain his conduct in that case due to extreme fatigue from the flu, saying he said he lost his temper and “it was a bad day".^[10] On November 3, 2020, he won the general election against his opponent State Representative Chris Harris.^[11] He was sworn in on January 1, 2021.^[12] His term started on January 4, 2021.^[13]

Conley was married to the late Melanie Stephens Conley for 28 years and is a father of two.^[5] Conley has described himself as a Christian conservative.^[14]