Stephen A. West (born April 28, 1970) is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the

Kentucky Senate The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky Senators. The Kentu ...

from the 27th district. He assumed office on March 23, 2015.

Early life and education

West was born in

Paris, Kentucky Paris is a home rule-class city in Bourbon County, Kentucky. It lies northeast of Lexington on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River. Paris is the seat of its county and forms part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. As ...

and attended

Grant County High School Grant County High School is a public high school serving the ninth through twelfth grades in Grant County, Kentucky, USA. It is one of seven schools and the only high school in the Grant County Schools district. School information The School wa ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. As a regional comprehensive institution, EKU also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, Lancaster, and Manchester and offers over 40 online un ...

in 1993 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

Salmon P. Chase College of Law The NKU Chase College of Law (formerly Salmon P. Chase College of Law, also known as Chase College of Law) is the law school of Northern Kentucky University, a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky. It provides both part-time (day and ...

Northern Kentucky University Northern Kentucky University is a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky. It is primarily an undergraduate institution with over 14,000 students; over 12,000 are undergraduate students and nearly 2,000 are graduate students. Northern K ...

in 1996.

Career

Outside of politics, West has worked as a cattle farmer, attorney, and real estate agent. He was elected to the

in a March 3, 2015 special election and assumed office on March 23, 2015. During the 2015 and 2017 legislative sessions, West served as vice chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee. During the 2019–2020 legislative session, he served as vice chair of the Senate Education Committee. Since 2019, he has served as vice chair of the Senate Education Committee. West also serves as co-chair of the Senate Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee.

References

Living people 21st-century American legislators Kentucky lawyers Republican Party Kentucky state senators 1970 births People from Paris, Kentucky Eastern Kentucky University alumni Salmon P. Chase College of Law alumni Northern Kentucky University alumni {{Kentucky-politician-stub