Judge Taylor has served as a Court of Appeals judge since he was first elected in November 2003. He was the court’s Chief Judge from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2012, and is the only Hardin County native to have served on the Court and as Chief Judge in the Court’s 46-year history.
He was elected to serve as a Court of Appeals judge from the 2nd Appellate District, which until 2022, was composed of Barren, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Daviess, Grayson, Hancock, Hardin, Hart, Henderson, LaRue, Meade, Ohio, Union and Warren Counties. He has been re-elected twice, in November 2006 and November 2014, to full eight-year terms. The new 2nd Appellate District is composed of Allen, Barren, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Butler, Edmonson, Grayson, Hancock, Hardin, Hart, LaRue, Meade, Monroe, Ohio, Simpson, Spencer, and Warren Counties.
Judge Taylor previously practiced law in Owensboro for more than 20 years and was a sole practitioner from 1990 until his election to the Court of Appeals in November of 2003. As a lawyer, he attained the preeminent A-V rating by Martindale-Hubbell. Judge Taylor has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Murray State University and a Master of Public Administration Degree from the University of Memphis. He earned his law degree from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, graduating with honors in 1982. He is a 1971 graduate of Elizabethtown High School.
He has served as a member of the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission since 2016 and is one of six judges statewide who serve on the Commission. He previously served on the Judicial Ethics Committee from 2012-2016. He is also a member of the Judicial Workload Assessment Committee and is a former member of the Judicial Branch Compensation Commission. Judge Taylor served on the Murray State University Board of Regents from September 2006 to September 2009.
He is a past-president of the Kentucky chapter of the Federal Bar Association. He is also past-president of the Daviess County Bar Association, Daviess County Public Defender Corporation and the Daviess County Lawyer Referral Service. He is a member of the Kentucky and Daviess County bar associations. In 2016, he was awarded the Joseph Hamilton Daviess Award by the Daviess County Bar Association for outstanding public service to the legal profession and his community.
Judge Taylor is a Life Fellow in the Kentucky Bar Foundation and a member of the Brandeis Honor Society at the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.
He has been a member of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce for 32 years and is a current member of the Ohio County Chamber. Judge Taylor is a past-president of the Owensboro Kiwanis Club and has been a member for 37 years. He has served on the Girls Inc. Advisory Board of Trustees for 31 years. He is a former board member of the Owensboro-Daviess County Committee on Aging. He is a member of the American Legion SAL Post 9, and has been a frequent volunteer for the Salvation Army and Boy Scouts Law Explorers.
Judge Taylor was born at Fort Knox in Hardin County and raised in Daviess County. He is married to the former Betty Keller of Christian County. She has one son and the couple has two grandchildren. The Taylors are currently members of Beaver Dam Baptist Church in Ohio County.