Tom Emberton

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American lawyer (1932–2022)

title: "Tom Emberton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1932-births", "2022-deaths", "judges-of-the-kentucky-court-of-appeals", "kentucky-republicans", "people-from-metcalfe-county,-kentucky", "kentucky-county-attorneys", "university-of-louisville-school-of-law-alumni", "western-kentucky-university-alumni", "deaths-from-fire-in-the-united-states", "accidental-deaths-in-kentucky", "mitch-mcconnell"] description: "American lawyer (1932–2022)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Emberton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American lawyer (1932–2022) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Tom Emberton
office	Judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals
term_start	1987
term_end	2004
birth_date
birth_place	Tompkinsville, Kentucky, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Edmonton, Kentucky, U.S.
profession	Lawyer, judge
spouse	Julia C. Emberton
children	2
alma_mater	Western Kentucky University (BA)
University of Louisville (JD)
party	Republican
::

Thomas Dale Emberton Sr. (July 14, 1932 — October 20, 2022) was an American politician and judge in the state of Kentucky. He was the Republican nominee for his state's governorship in the 1971 election. His campaign was aided by Mitch McConnell.

Emberton was born in Tompkinsville, Kentucky, in 1932. After attending Western Kentucky University, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1962 and was admitted to the bar in that same year. He served as County Attorney for Metcalfe County from 1966 to 1967. Backed by term-limited Governor Louie B. Nunn and Senator John Sherman Cooper, He lost to the Democratic Lieutenant Governor Wendell H. Ford, later a U.S. senator, 470,720 votes (50.6 percent) to 412,653 (44.3 percent). Former Democratic U.S. Senator and Governor Happy Chandler of Versailles received the remaining 39,493 votes (5.1 percent), running as an Independent.

Prior to his gubernatorial candidacy, Emberton served as a member of the Public Service Commission in the Nunn administration. In 1980, he ran in Kentucky's 5th congressional district but lost the primary to the eventual winner, Hal Rogers of Somerset in Pulaski County, who still holds the seat. In 1987, Democratic Governor Wallace Wilkinson appointed him to fill a vacancy on the Kentucky Court of Appeals. He held that position until his retirement in 2004.

Emberton resided in Edmonton, the seat of Metcalfe County in southern Kentucky. On October 20, 2022, his home caught fire. He escaped, then died upon reentering in an attempt to save it, aged 90. The Metcalfe County Courthouse was named for Emberton and a bronze statue of him, by Amanda Matthews of Lexington, was unveiled in front of the courthouse on Nov, 2, 2025.

References

(21 November 1970). "Cook's Aide Joins Emberton". The Cincinnati Enquirer.
(October 21, 1972). "The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory". Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, Incorporated.
(11 May 2020). "Thomas Emberton [Republican] 1971 Campaign Ad "John Sherman Cooper"".
"People Search & Background Check".
(October 20, 2022). "Former Kentucky Court of Appeals Judge Tom Emberton dies in house fire". WKBO News.
(October 20, 2022). "Tom Emberton, former judge and gubernatorial candidate, dies at 90".
https://www.jpinews.com/2025/11/04/honoring-judge-tom-emberton

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