Joye Beth Spinks is an environmental law and civil litigation associate at ELPO whose practice combines her background in science, education, and advocacy. After earning degrees in Biology and Science/Math Education from Western Kentucky University, she began her professional career as a high school biology and environmental science teacher in Ohio County, Kentucky, where she taught for four years.
Her commitment to education and environmental stewardship continued at Boston University School of Law. While in law school, she interned with the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture and the Kentucky Department of Education, and served as President of the Education Law Association. One of the most formative experiences of Joye Beth’s legal education was working as a law clerk at ELPO. As a Bowling Green native, she was drawn to the firm’s established environmental law practice and the opportunity to build a career close to home. After graduating from law school, she joined ELPO full time in 2019.
Today, Joye Beth assists clients with a wide range of environmental matters, including permitting, regulatory compliance, enforcement actions, transactions, litigation, and the interpretation of complex statutory and regulatory requirements. Her practice regularly involves issues arising under the Clean Water Act; Clean Air Act; Oil Pollution Act; the Kentucky Brownfields Program; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund); and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Joye Beth values the opportunity to support businesses that contribute to the economic development of the Commonwealth both through her work at ELPO and as a volunteer. She is active in several community and professional organizations focused on development of current and future business leaders. She often volunteers with Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce programs such as Bowling Green Young Professionals and Leadership Bowling Green. She is also a frequent presenter on environmental law topics at Kentucky Chamber of Commerce environmental conferences and has co-authored a publication on the topic of Wetlands Considerations in Real Estate Transactions.
An engaged member of the community, Joye Beth has served in leadership roles with Bowling Green Young Professionals, the Kentucky Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, and the Stuff the Bus Foundation. She also volunteers with Leadership Bowling Green and serves as an advisor to Western Kentucky University’s Alpha Gamma Delta chapter.
Joye Beth lives in rural Logan County with her husband and their lively group of pets.
