Menis Elbert Ketchum, a justice on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, was born on January 31, 1943, in Huntington and grew up in Wayne County. He attended Ohio University, where he played varsity baseball. He was a member of the 1964 Mid-American Conference Championship baseball team.

He graduated in 1964 and went on to attend law school at West Virginia University, where he served as associate editor of the West Virginia Law Review. After graduating in 1967, he returned to Huntington to practice law with his father, Chad W. Ketchum at the firm of Greene, Ketchum & Baker. He was recognized by the publication Best Lawyers in America each year from 1989 to 2008 and was a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates. He also served on the Board of Governors of Marshall University from 2002 until 2008.

Menis Ketchum, a Democrat, remained in private practice until his election to a 12-year term on the Supreme Court on November 4, 2008. He served as chief justice in 2012 and again in 2016. In July 2018, on the eve of investigations by the House of Delegates into impeachable offenses by members of the Supreme Court, Ketchum retired with two years left in his term. On July 31, he agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud in a deal with federal prosecutors, who said he defrauded taxpayers by using a state-owned vehicle and state-owned credit card for his personal use.

Ketchum is married to the former Judy Varnum, and they have three children.