Mike O'Connell reflects on the last 16 years as he becomes the longest serving Jefferson County attorney

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- This week, the Jefferson County attorney reaches a major milestone.

Mike O'Connell will make history at midnight on Friday. His 16 years will make him the longest serving Jefferson County attorney in more than 100 years.

Oconnell Longest Serving (3).jpeg — Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell on Aug. 15, 2024. (WDRB photo)

"People ask me every time if I'm going to run again," O'Connell said.

O’Connell, a Louisville native and St. X graduate, served as a district court judge from 1980 to 1987 and on the circuit bench from 1987 to 1990.

The Jefferson County Attorney’s Office prosecutes traffic cases, misdemeanors and oversees child support cases. In addition, the office represents the city and Metro Council in legal issues.

And Thursday, when the clock strikes midnight, he becomes the longest serving county attorney in the history of the city, surpassing his former boss, J Bruce Miller.

"Bruce had four terms, and I always knew he was the longest serving county attorney in Jefferson County, just by knowing the history," O'Connell said.

Over the years, O'Connell has had a lot of courtroom battles and accomplishments.

"The opioid litigation, national opioid litigation," O'Connell said. "I encouraged Mayor Fischer, at the time, to get involved in that, and we did on behalf of Louisville Metro."

O’Connell pushed for Louisville to become one of the first cities in the country to sue opioid distributors, manufacturers and pharmacies, which led to major settlements.

"The state of Kentucky got about $800 million," O'Connell said. "I think Louisville Metro, somewhere in there, around $60 million."

O'Connell said some of the motivation was personal after losing his son Matt to a heroin overdose in 2014.

"I would think of him frequently when doing that work in a loving way," O'Connell said. "'Hey, Matt, watch over me.'"

There have also been some proud moments, like being named County Attorney of the Year in Kentucky in 2017 and leading the effort to have the confederate monument near the University of Louisville removed.

"That was awful for years and years and years," O'Connell said. "It should have been removed many years ago, in front of the city's university and right near the entrance."

From proud moments to many accomplishments.

"Probably the proudest moment from an individual and a father and family is when my daughter Annie, who became a Jefferson Circuit Court Judge, swore me in on my most recent term," O'Connell said.

O'Connell said there aren't many regrets, but shared what saddened him about the recent high-profile case involving the world's top golfer Scottie Scheffler, after receiving dozens of calls, it was the call he didn't get that hurt the most.

Oconnell Longest Serving (2).jpeg — Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell on Aug. 15, 2024. (WDRB photo)

"I never heard one person call this office and discuss anything about the man that died out there on that roadway about 200 feet before this happened, not one," O'Connell said.

Joe Leavell is director of child support, one of several divisions that report to O'Connell.

"Mike is a person of compassion," Leavell said. "He's a gentleman's gentleman. And in terms of what he has done for the county attorney's office, at least from where I sit, is has been unprecedented."

On the walls of his office, hangs pictures of two of O'Connell's heroes: Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.

They're men he said possessed the three qualities he demands from his staff.

"And all three of them are in the rules of professional conduct in this day," O'Connell said. "Competence, diligence and integrity."

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