Audra Jean Eckerle was elected in November 2022 to serve as a Kentucky Court of Appeals judge starting in January 2023.
She was in her 15th year as a Jefferson Circuit Court judge when she was elected to the Court of Appeals. She served two years as chief regional circuit judge/chief circuit judge during this time. Prior to being elected as a Circuit Court Judge, Judge Eckerle was appointed and elected as a District Court Judge, where she remained for four years. She also governed as Chief Regional Jefferson District Court Judge during that time.
Prior to her service on the bench, Judge Eckerle practiced law for 12 years. She had a varied civil and criminal practice, including serving as General Counsel for a publicly-traded, national assisted living company, as an attorney at both large and medium-sized civil firms, and as an assistant county attorney. She also clerked for a United States District Court Judge in Sacramento, California.
Judge Eckerle graduated from law school at the University of California at Berkeley, where she obtained her Juris Doctorate in 1991. She served as an Associate Editor of the California Law Review. She attended college at the University of California, Davis, where she obtained a B.A., summa cum laude, in Political Science in 1988.
Judge Eckerle is a native of Kentucky and attended Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville. She lives in Jefferson County with her husband, Joe, and their two Irish Setters, Felony & Misdemeanor, as well as two donkeys, three goats, and a bunch of chickens.