Biography
Steve Gold serves as the County Attorney in Henderson County, Kentucky. He is responsible for the prosecution of crimes; collection of bad checks, past-due taxes and child support; and he serves as legal advisor to the county’s governing body, the fiscal court. Prior to becoming County Attorney in 2008, Gold maintained a private law practice for ten years and served as First Assistant County Attorney for four of those years. He graduated from the University of Louisville with a Bachelor of Arts, cum
laude, and the University of Kentucky College of Law. In 2017, he received an executive certificate in Youth In Custody from the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University.
Steve was honored with the 2015 Outstanding County Attorney Award by the Kentucky Attorney General. In both 2014 and 2015, the Henderson County Attorney’s Office was given an Outstanding Performance Award from the Kentucky Division of Child Support Enforcement. In 2016, he was elected President of the Kentucky County Attorney’s Association.
With a focus on positive,
effective reform of the juvenile justice system, Gold was instrumental in the
conception and implementation of a Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice
pilot project which reduced the number of juvenile court petitions in the
county by over two-thirds through early intervention, front-loading services to
youths, and the creation of a Victim-Offender Conferencing (Restorative
Justice) Program. In recognition of his work with the successful pilot project,
he was asked by the Kentucky County Attorney’s Association to serve on the
state legislature’s 2013 Unified Juvenile Code Task Force to recommend
state-wide reforms to the legislature.
In 2014, he was nominated by
the Attorney General and appointed by Gov. Beshear to serve as the
prosecutorial representative to the Juvenile Justice Oversight Council to
oversee the implementation of Senate Bill 200, the Juvenile Justice Reform
Bill. He was reappointed to that post by Gov. Bevin in 2018. Gold was appointed
to serve on the Supreme Court’s Juvenile Court Rules Advisory Committee and,
later, the Standing Committee on the Juvenile Court Rules. From 2013 to 2018,
Gold also served on the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice’s Subcommittee
for Equity and Justice for All Youth (SEJAY).
In 2017, Gold was appointed to
serve on the Kentucky Bar Association’s (KBA) Future of the Practice of Law
Commission.
Steve is currently a board
member of the Kentucky YMCA Youth Association, Inc., the nation’s oldest and
largest YMCA youth development organization. The group develops engaged
citizens and servant leaders, inspired to affect change in their school,
community, Commonwealth, nation, and world. Through experiential learning,
service, and community activism, the organization fosters critical
thinking, leadership, and social responsibility in teens.
Steve currently serves as a
founding member and officer of the Henderson County Boys & Girls Club
Advisory Board, which is in the process of creating a local unit under
the auspices of the Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club to serve and develop
hundreds of Henderson County young people
As a member of the Kentucky
Consumer Advisory Council in 2002-2003, he worked with the Attorney General’s
Consumer Protection Division during the implementation of Kentucky’s No-Call
List.
In 2005-2006, Gold served
president of the Henderson Lion’s Club, an active civic group with nearly 100
members which provides for vision screening of children in local schools and
provides eye care for the indigent. Over the years, Gold has served his
community on many other non-profit and civic boards, such as the United Way of
Henderson County (Vice-President), the Ohio Valley Art League, the Henderson
Tourist Development Corporation.
In 2008 – 2009, he participated
in the Delta Leadership Institute, a program of the federal Delta Regional
Authority designed to improve life for the residents of 252 counties and
parishes in parts of eight states. He is also a graduate of the 2007-2008 class
of the Henderson Leadership Initiative.
Gold
has served six years as chairman and 20 years on the board of directors of the
Henderson Music Preservation Society, Inc., a non-profit corporation which
sponsors a “Blues in the Schools” program and the W.C. Handy Blues and Barbecue
Festival, one of the largest annual, free blues festivals in the nation.
Gold, his wife, Holly, and his children,
Meredith and Nate, attend First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in
Henderson, KY where he serves as an Elder.