Gerina D. Whethers – Commonwealth’s Attorney

Louisville’s Chief Prosecutor, Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerina D. Whethers, brings over 20 years of legal experience and professional expertise to her current efforts supporting public safety and safeguarding the rule of law in our community. Since taking office in May 2023, she has incorporated insights from her previous roles as an executive and community leader on the local, state, and national levels to pursue justice ethically and fairly. Attorney Whethers places particular focus on advocating for justice for the victims of crime and on making sure all persons are treated with fairness, dignity, and respect throughout the legal process. To ensure over 700,000 citizens in Jefferson County receive due process in the legal system, she leads an office of 100 attorneys, investigators, victim advocates, and other team members whose daily work supports the mission to prosecute the guilty and protect the innocent. She is the first African American woman to serve as Commonwealth’s Attorney for Jefferson County since the office’s inception.

In 2024, Attorney Whethers was elected by the people to continue her public service on their behalf. Her first official term of her own in the office began in 2025. Prior to serving as Commonwealth’s Attorney, she was a Kentucky Cabinet Secretary and led the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet in developing policies and procedures that protected the health and well-being of over 24,000 state employees.

Attorney Whethers helped create and served as Executive Director of the inaugural Office of Senior Protection and Mediation. There, she cultivated and developed partnerships and key relationships with other state and federal agencies, as well as veteran services organizations, churches, and other key advocates and providers for senior citizens. Under her leadership, the state was able to recover millions of dollars in goods and services for Kentucky’s seniors.

Before leading the Office of Senior Protection and Mediation, she served for four years as Executive Director of Victim Advocacy in the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General. She previously served as Assistant County Attorney for the Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Unit in Jefferson County. She was also a Jefferson County Circuit Court staff attorney in Circuit Court and trial commissioner. She also has experience in handling probate work.

Attorney Whethers received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a Minor in the inaugural Pan-African Studies program from the University of Louisville. She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.

Attorney Whethers is committed to community involvement. She currently serves on the boards of the Louisville Metro Criminal Justice Commission, Louisville Metro Jail Policy Committee, Louisville Bar Association, and Gilda’s Club Kentuckiana and many others.

Elizabeth Jones Brown– First Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney

Ms. Jones Brown received her law degree from Georgetown University (DC) Law Center in 2002 and is a licensed member of the bars of the Commonwealths of Kentucky and Virginia. Prior to law school, she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Anthropology from Centre College in 1996 and a Master of Arts Degree in International Relations from the University of Kentucky in 1998. In the past, Ms. Jones Brown worked as a Law Clerk for a judge in the DC Superior Court, and she served as Assistant General Counsel to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2004 to 2007. Ms. Jones Brown joined the office as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in 2007, and in 2015 became the Division Chief of the
Violent Crimes Unit, which she led until 2025 when she became the First Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney. She also serves as the Homicide Liaison.