Judge Christopher McNeill was appointed Deputy Chief Judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals by Chief Judge Larry E. Thompson on Jan. 1, 2025. He was originally elected to the Court in 2020 by voters in the 24-county 1st District and was re-elected in November 2022 to continue serving the newly configured 23-county 1st District. He has served on the Court since taking office on May 1, 2020.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals hears cases from throughout the Commonwealth and is made up of 14 judges elected from the state's seven Supreme Court districts. Judge McNeill is elected from the 1st District, which includes 23 counties in the western region of Kentucky: Ballard, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Daviess, Fulton, Graves, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, McLean, Muhlenberg, Todd, Trigg, Union and Webster.
While elected from their respective districts, the judges of the Court of Appeals exercise statewide authority and sit in panels of three in various locations across the Commonwealth.
Judge McNeill brings over 25 years of legal experience to the courts. His career includes work in private civil practice and service as a staff attorney for the Kentucky Court of Appeals. As the Directing Attorney for the Public Defender's Office in McCracken County, he gained extensive jury trial experience and was involved in or supervised representation in more than 70,000 cases across six primary counties and several additional counties in western Kentucky.
He earned a Juris Doctor by attending night school at Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law while working full-time for a Kentucky Office of Inspector General. He also completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and a Master of Science degree in Organizational Communication from Murray State University. In 1993, he completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Judge McNeill currently serves as Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee for the Kentucky Bar Association (KBA) Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (AI), which explores the impact of AI on legal practice, ethical considerations for attorneys, and best practices for its use in the legal profession.
He has been a longtime presenter at annual KBA Continuing Legal Education (CLE) events, including delivering the Kentucky Court of Appeals Update CLE in Owensboro, Covington, and Paducah.
Judge McNeill is a past president of the McCracken County Bar Association and served on the McCracken County Specialty Court Board (formerly Drug Court) from its inception in 2005 until 2020. He is also a member and former president of the Rotary Club of Paducah.
In recognition of his service, the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy honored him with its Professionalism and Excellence Award in 2012. In 2018, the Kentucky Bar Association selected him to participate in its inaugural Leadership Conference, recognizing lawyers who demonstrate leadership in both their profession and communities.
He is a former vice-chair of Paducah Main Street, which recognized him with its Distinguished Service Award in 2008. He is also a former member of the Impact Poverty study group sponsored by the United Way of Paducah. He serves as a deacon at First Baptist Church in Paducah.
Judge McNeill grew up on the family farm in his native Fulton County. He and his wife, Melanie, live in Paducah, have been married since 1993, and have two sons.