ed.monahan

Edward C. Monahan began as a KY public defender in 1976. He was appointed Kentucky Public Advocate by the Governor September 1, 2008 to a four year term and reappointed to a second four year term September 2012. He led the development of Kentucky’s nationally recognized legal education program. Ed is a charter board member of the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and is past president of KACDL and chair of the KACDL Education Committee, past chair of the Kentucky Bar Association’s Criminal Law Section, was a member of the KBA Ethics Committee (2000-2007; 2008-2011). He is past chair of the American Council of Chief Defenders and chaired its Leadership and Development Committee. Monahan is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and co-chairs its Subcommittee on Pretrial Release Advocacy. He was co-counsel in Gall v. Parker, 231 F.3d 265 (6th Cir. 2000) and Kordenbrock v. Scroggy, 919 F.2d 1091 (6th Cir. 1990) (en banc) both granting federal habeas relief to clients sentenced to death. Monahan was counsel in Binion v. Commonwealth, 891 S.W.2d 383 (Ky. 1995) which recognized the constitutional requirement for defense experts. His publications include Coping with Excessive Workload, co-authored with James J. Clark, Ph.D., in ABA Ethical Problems Facing the Criminal Defense Lawyer: Practical Answers to Tough Questions (1995). On September 16, 2013 the National Association of Pretrial Service Agencies’ John C. Hendricks Pioneer Award was presented to the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy for the statewide public defender program’s strategic commitment to advance public defender advocacy across Kentucky resulting in an increase of release for indigents prior to trial.