Governor Andy Beshear appointed Acena Beck to fill the remaining term of Dawn Gentry as Kenton County Family Court Judge (16th Judicial Circuit, Division 5 Family Court).
Beck, executive director of the Covington-based Children’s Law Center, was one of three attorneys named as nominees to fill the vacancy two weeks ago.
Gentry was removed as judge in August by Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission after facing judicial misconduct charges.
Beck, of Covington, was nominated along with Thomas Anthony Rauf, of Edgewood, and Carol Lavonn Risk, of Fort Wright.Â
Gentry was elected to a full term in 2018 after previously being appointed by former Governor Matt Bevin in 2016.
Beck has served as the executive director of the Children’s Law Center for nearly four years and was previously the center’s deputy director and before that, its managing attorney. She received her juris doctor from Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law, where she has been an adjunct professor of juvenile law since January 2020.
According to her bio at the Children’s Law Center, Beck earned a bachelor’s degree at Morehead State University, from which she graduated magna cum laude, and a law degree from Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law. She has served as co-chair of the Family Law Section at the Northern Kentucky Bar Association, and is active with the Kentucky Bar Association.
-Staff report