Paul Braden wore a lot of hats in his life both before and during his 16-year stint a circuit judge for Whitley and McCreary counties.
Beyond the courtroom, he mentored young men through coaching youth sports, built homes for Habitat for Humanity, and championed causes like protecting an-imal habitats and helping children in need.
Leadership Tri-County recognized Braden with a luminary award during its 2026 Leader of the Year banquet Thursday.
Luminary awards are memorial tributes by the organization to outstanding leaders from our region, who are no longer with us.
Braden was born in Appalachia, Virginia. He graduated from Middlesboro High School in 1957 and Lincoln Memorial University in 1961. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Braden worked as a local DJ and news person at a radio station before earning his law degree from the University of Kentucky in 1966.
Braden had a distinguished career as a private attorney before ever becoming a judge.
Forcht Group of Kentucky founder and CEO, Terry E. Forcht, said after Braden’s death in 2011 that he remembers fondly the decade in the 1960s and 70s he and Braden were law partners in Corbin before the two parted ways – Braden pursuing his desire to be a judge, Forcht more focused on building a business empire.
“He was always a very reliable and learned law partner. I think very highly of him. He was as honest as the day is long,” Forcht said of Braden in 2001.
Before serving as circuit judge, Braden served as an assistant commonwealth at-torney for the 34th Judicial Circuit and then was appointed commonwealth attor-ney in 1987. He was also an assistant Whitley County Attorney and then served as a district judge for Whitley and McCreary counties.
Gov. Paul Patton appointed him in 1995 to the newly created 34th Judicial Circuit Division II circuit judge position for the two counties. He was twice re-elected without opposition. He was about halfway through his second eight-year term when he died.
In 2009, he became Chief Regional Judge for the Cumberland Region, which is a position he held until his death at the age of 71. One of the principal responsibilities of chief regional judges is assigning special judges in cases of conflicts or va-cancies and may serve in the absence of any judge within their region.
Braden was a recognized authority in complex litigation and death penalty cases. The Kentucky Justice Association named him Kentucky’s Outstanding Trial Judge in 2008 and he frequently trained other judges throughout the state.
“I think he was above reproach in every way … He just loved being a judge and he really lived up to it,” Forcht said in 2011.
“He decided things the way the law was. He did things the right way.”
Braden’s widow, Kathy, and other members of his family accepted the luminary award Thursday on his behalf.
