Damon Preston, Kentucky’s top public defender, to retire from post
Public Advocate Damon Preston, the state’s top public defender, announced his retirement over the weekend, pending Gov. Andy Beshear’s appointment of a replacement, according to a press release from the Department of Public Advocacy.
Preston has been at the department for 29 years. He was first appointed to the role in 2017 by former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin. Beshear, a Democrat, reappointed Preston in 2021.
The Department of Public Advocacy is charged with providing legal representation to Kentuckians facing criminal allegations who can’t afford a private attorney.
Preston was one of several in Kentucky’s public advocate community that sounded alarm bells on low pay for public defenders in 2021. After passage of the state’s 2022 budget, public defenders got an average raise of 22%.
He has continued to push for more funding for public defenders since then.
Preston graduated from Harvard Law School in 1994 and returned home to Kentucky in 1997 as a staff attorney in the Richmond Trial Office. He led offices in Paducah, Cynthiana and the Appeals Branch in Frankfort before being tapped to lead the Department of Public Advocacy.
“Damon’s dedication to DPA and the Commonwealth of Kentucky cannot be overstated. His work with the Department of Public Advocacy, beginning as a trial attorney through his time as Public Advocate, has made a lasting impact on our ability as a Commonwealth to provide strong advocacy for those most in need. We wish him all the best in his retirement,” Kentucky Public Advocacy Commission Chair Whitney True Lawson wrote in a statement.
Preston added in the release that he will continue to “improve DPA until his last hour as Public Advocate.”
He wrote in a note to staff that it’s not about the “top of the org chart,” but the rank and file.
“It has been an honor leading this agency and seeing the dedication and excellence of those who work for DPA. The greatness of DPA has nothing to do with who sits at the top of the org chart. Everything good that happens in the public defender system of Kentucky is because one of you makes a difference in someone’s life or in the community,” Preston wrote.
