Louisville’s longest-serving county attorney is planning to retire at the end of next year.
Mike O’Connell, a Democrat, announced his intention not to run for reelection on Thursday, and endorsed a successor.
O’Connell, 75, said in an interview with LPM News that he wants to leave office while he can still manage the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office efficiently. He said he feels the office is set up for success.
“This is an office that requires professionalism, competency, diligence, integrity every day,” he said. “What I like to feel is a personal accomplishment is we have those people in every courtroom.”
A Louisville native, O’Connell is a graduate of St. Xavier High School. He received his law degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1974.
O’Connell began working for the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office as a part-time prosecutor after college. The office has grown significantly since then. Today, it has a staff of roughly 350 people. They prosecute crimes ranging from traffic offenses to domestic violence, collect delinquent taxes and represent Louisville Metro in lawsuits.
O’Connell was first appointed to the post by then-Mayor Jerry Abramson in 2008 after serving as a district and circuit court judge and a trial attorney.
He said he’s proud of the cases his office has brought, including some of the first lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and representing the city in removing a confederate monument near the University of Louisville. O’Connell’s office was also a founding partner of the city’s group violence intervention program, which offers people involved in gangs an opportunity to leave that lifestyle before they end up in jail.
“People in Louisville do not recognize and probably don’t know the number of gangs in this town,” he said. “That’s who we’re all trying to work on to make a difference.”
O’Connell’s current term will end at the beginning of 2027. He said the thing he’s looking forward to the most in retirement is spending more time with his family.
“Traveling with my wife, Ellen,” he said. “And just playing more than one round of golf per week.”
A primary election will be held next May to decide who will run in the November general election to replace him as county attorney.
On his way out, O’Connell said he’ll support Second Assistant Sarah Martin to replace him. Martin is the director of the office’s civil division, providing legal counsel to Louisville Metro Government.
“The public demands competency and professionalism and understanding of what it entails and that’s one of the reasons that I’ve named Second Assistant Sarah Martin to hopefully be my successor,” he said. “I support her.”
In a statement Thursday, Martin said she had raised more than $50,000 for her campaign in the last week. Martin, who previously served as the lead attorney for Metro Council, also touted endorsements from former U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth and Lonita Baker, a past president of the National Bar Association who has represented the mother of Breonna Taylor.
“I am honored to receive the support of my friend and mentor, Mike O’Connell,” she said. “I look forward to continuing the important legal work of the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office during the final 21 months of Mike’s term and beyond.”
Martin is the only person to formally announce plans to run for Jefferson County Attorney next year.
