JOHN E. KUHN, JR is the United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky. Mr. Kuhn began leading the Office in December 2014. As United States Attorney, he acts as the chief federal law enforcement officer, overseeing prosecutions and other legal work of the Department of Justice in the Western District of Kentucky, which encompasses 53 counties and more than half of Kentucky’s population.
Mr. Kuhn is a Kentucky native with more than 25 years of legal experience. He has devoted most of his legal career to public service and has worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for nearly 20 years. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 8 years in the Civil Division, he defended lawsuits filed against the United States and pursued cases against individuals and businesses that defrauded the United States. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 6 years in the Criminal Division, Mr. Kuhn prosecuted violent crime, narcotics cases and white collar offenses. In addition to his trial work, Mr. Kuhn argued appeals before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and volunteered to serve as a hearing officer in Washington, D.C. and New York City for the Victims Compensation Fund, established for victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Before assuming the role of U.S. Attorney, Mr. Kuhn served for more than 4 years as First Assistant U.S. Attorney, supervising the Criminal, Civil and Appellate Divisions of the Office.
Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Kuhn was General Counsel to the Kentucky Secretary of State, the Director of Litigation for the Cabinet for Human Resources Office of Counsel, and a litigation associate at the Louisville law firm of Brown Todd & Heyburn. In those capacities, Mr. Kuhn handled a broad range of civil cases that included complex commercial litigation, personal injury defense, civil rights cases, domestic relations actions, and equine litigation.
Mr. Kuhn graduated cum laude from the University of Louisville School of Law and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky.