Boyce G. Clayton

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, he attended Benton High School and served in the United States Army after World War II.[1] He graduated from Murray State University and briefly taught in Metropolis, Illinois, and then at Waggerner High School, in Kentucky, while pursuing his J.D. at the University of Louisville School of Law.[1] He gained admission to the bar in Kentucky in 1960, and became Prosecuting Attorney for the city of Mayfield, Kentucky.[1] In October 1972 he was initiated into the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks with 11 others.[2] In 1968, he was elected as the Commonwealth's Attorney for the 42d District.[3] He was a Democrat.[4]

Prior to the supreme court, Clayton served on the Kentucky Court of Appeals from 1974 when he beat the incumbent Justice Earl T. Osborne.[5]

In 1976, Governor Julian Carroll appointed Clayton to the newly established Kentucky Supreme Court.[1][6] In 1982, he lost the position to Roy N. Vance who won by a "large majority".[7][8] He then ran to re-join the appellate court in November 1983 but lost to B. R. "Bill" Paxton.[9] Later he successfully re-joined the Kentucky Court of Appeals and had 16 years of judicial service by 1991.[10] After concluding his judicial service, he was the City Attorney for Benton, Kentucky for four years, until he retired from practice.[1]

Clayton's wife died before him, and he was survived by two daughters.[1]

He died at Oakview Manor Healthcare Center in Calvert City, Kentucky, at the age of 90.[1]