William A. Taylor

William "Al" Taylor (November 2, 1928 – June 18, 2010) was an American jurist who served as a Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court from January 22, 1993, until his retirement in 1998.

On November 2, 1928, Taylor was born in Lusk, Wyoming to Don and Ethel Taylor.[1][2][3] He graduated from Lusk High School in 1946.[1] After receiving his teaching degree from the University of Wyoming in 1951, he taught geography, social studies, and arithmetic in Lusk, Wyoming.[1][2] He joined the United States Army during the Korean War.[1][2] After his military service and teaching two more years in Lusk, he attended law school at the University of Wyoming, obtaining his law degree in 1959.[1][2] During law school, he married Jane Y. Lyons.[1] After law school, he practiced law in Lusk, where he also served as city attorney and county attorney for Niobrara County.[1][3][2] In 1976, he became the first Director of the Wyoming State Bar.[1] He served as Director until 1980, when he was appointed by Governor Edgar J. Herschler to a new Wyoming state district court judgeship in the Eighth Judicial District, serving Converse, Platte, Goshen, and Niobrara Counties.[1][3] He served as a state district judge until 1993, when he was appointed to the Wyoming Supreme Court by Governor Mike Sullivan.[1][2] He served as Chief Justice from 1997-1998.[1] He retired from the Wyoming Supreme Court in 1998.[4] Taylor died June 18, 2010, in Green Valley, Arizona, and is buried in Lusk.[1]

Taylor had three daughters.[1][3] His middle daughter, Kari Jo Gray, was appointed to the Wyoming Supreme Court by Governor Matt Mead in September 2018; she was sworn in on October 9, 2018.[5][6] Her robing ceremony took place on November 2, 2018, which would have been her father's 90th birthday.