Public Advocate Ed Monahan

Ed Monahan, a veteran public defender, was appointed Public Advocate for Kentucky by Gov. Steve Beshear in September 2008.  Monahan becomes the Commonwealth’s sixth chief administrator responsible for providing legal defense services for the indigent.

Monahan’s service to Kentucky spans more than three decades.  Most recently, he served as Executive Director of The Catholic Conference of Kentucky.  Prior to that, Monahan worked as a public defender from 1976-2004, the last eight of which as Deputy Public Advocate.  During his tenure with the department, he led a nationally recognized public defender education program, and served as editor of The Advocate, DPA’s criminal justice magazine.  He has served on the Kentucky Bar Association’s Ethics Committee, was a founding member of the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and chaired the Kentucky Bar Association’s Criminal Law Section in 1991 and again in 2002. 

Monahan is a 1976 graduate of Catholic University’s School of Law, and a 1973 graduate of Thomas More College.   He is a past recipient of the Defender Services Award, presented by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, and the Gideon Award, from the Department of Public Advocacy.  He is married to Diane Solomon Monahan, and has two daughters, Lauren, a student at the University of Dayton, and Megan, a student at Boston College.

The appointment is effective September 1, and runs through July 2012.