Saying he's burned out after a 40-year law career, Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Bill Cunningham is leaving the high court on Feb. 1.

"You deal with the arena of human tragedy for that long, and it begins to take its toll," Cunningham told the Courier Journal on Friday.

"I just got worried I was tired of dealing with tortured and murdered children, and I couldn’t give it my best. Part of doing something is recognizing when you’ve lost the passion for it."

Cunningham, 74, was first elected to the high court in 2006. He is among the two longest-serving justices on the bench along with Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr.

Read this:Pension bill ruling was a 'credit negative' for Kentucky, Moody's says

This decision means Gov. Matt Bevin, an outspoken critic of the state judiciary in cases involving his administration, has a chance to fill the seat until a special election can be held for the 1st Supreme Court District.

Recently, the seven justices ruled unanimously that the Republican-controlled General Assembly's plan to overall Kentucky's ailing pension system was unconstitutional on procedural grounds.

Bevin chastised the ruling as "an unprecedented power grab by activist judges."

"By striking down (Senate Bill) 151 based on process, rather than merit, the Kentucky Supreme Court has chosen to take for itself the law-making power that the constitution grants to the legislature," he said.

Under the Kentucky Constitution, the governor can fill the seat after being presented a list of three names by a judicial nominating commission. If the person appointed by Bevin wants to seek election to the seat, they must file to run for office in the next election, which is in 2019.

Kentucky's justices are elected based on the seven appellate districts and serve eight-year terms.

See also:Kentucky remains 'deeply' split on health care because it's confusing

Cunningham said he is confident the nomination commission will find three qualified names who can be fair and impartial. The longtime justice, however, warned against deciding cases based on partisan politics.

"We’re a land of law, and when people make judicial decisions based on political considerations, everybody’s rights can be trampled," he said. "What Gov. Bevin says goes by you like the idle wind, and I don’t think people pay a lot of attention to what he says."

Blake Brickman, Bevin's chief of staff, responded Friday saying, "Justice Cunningham’s unprecedented political comments today only prove the governor’s point that politics have unfortunately infused our judicial process."

In the past, Bevin has made it clear his frustration with the state judiciary, once telling the Federalist Society that he would like to see the Kentucky Constitution amended so that the judges are appointed by the governor rather than elected.

"We have a remarkable number of people who have no business being judges. I mean none,” Bevin said during a February 2017 meeting. "They don’t have the competence even to be a private practice attorney who can bill at a rate that people would not pay."

In the wake of the pension ruling, Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, threatened that legislation would be filed in the upcoming legislative session to “rein in” judges.

"My regards for the judiciary in Kentucky is at a low point," he told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "Too many are liberal activists."

Column:Inept, arrogant and weak: Bevin's special session on pensions crashes

Bevin's remarks and legislative efforts to clamp down on state judges riled Cunningham, who said many in the state are ignoring the governor's criticism. It should be alarming to Kentuckians how the governor and legislators are howling about the judiciary, Cunningham added.

"It shows an aimed ignorance of the democratic system and tremendous ignorance of our state constitution, which is stronger than any other system," he said.

"It shows the ignorance of how important of having an independent judiciary. If you have one that is threatened by another branch of government, that should be concerning to everybody."

Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd has been the focus of sharp attacks by the governor for his various rulings. Bevin has regularly called Shepherd an "incompetent hack" in public.

Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, has piggybacked on Bevin's comments by suggesting a change to state law to allow people filing lawsuits against the state to shop their cases to other circuit courts.

Currently, all lawsuits involving state government have to be filed in Franklin Circuit Court.

Cunningham said the response the seven justices have gotten from constituents in the face of these and other criticisms has been to continue making rulings based on the constitution.

"But it concerns me when we have governors and legislators who have such thin and shallow understanding of our constitutional system, and the separation of powers and the roles judges and courts play," he said.

Read more:Mitch McConnell's former lawyer may run for Kentucky attorney general

The retiring justice said he isn't worried that state lawmakers or Bevin will make drastic changes to the judicial branch or punish specific judges, however.

"I don’t think they have the political support," Cunningham said. "I think our judicial system is a hell of a lot stronger than our executive and legislative branches right now, and I don’t think they should be throwing stones when they live in glass houses."

Cunningham earned a bachelor's degree from Murray State University in 1962. He later attended University of Kentucky law school. He started with his time as the Eddyville city attorney in the early 1970s.

He served as a prosecutor and circuit judge before joining the state Supreme Court in 2007, where he represented Western Kentucky. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served in Vietnam, Korea and Germany.

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at 502-582-4475 or pbailey@courierjournal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/philb.