Chad Meredith confirmed by U.S. Senate as federal judge in Kentucky’s Eastern District

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Stephen Chad Meredith as a federal judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky, succeeding Judge Danny C. Reeves who is retiring. 

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who recommended Meredith for the federal bench, released a statement Thursday congratulating him. “Chad’s impressive legal background in the private sector and devotion to serving the public make him an excellent addition to the federal bench. His thoughtfulness and commitment to our Constitution will serve him well as he carries out his new duties.”

The son of state Sen. Stephen Merdith, R-Leitchfield, Chad Meredith is a partner in the international law firm Squire Patton Boggs, working in its Cincinnati office..

Meredith served in the Republican administrations of Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin and state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, 

Meredith’s chance to be nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022 was tanked by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican. Biden abandoned his plans to nominate Meredith after Paul vowed to block his confirmation in the Senate.

This time Paul supported Meredith, the Associated Press has reported. The Senate approved Meredith’s appointment Thursday by unanimous consent.

Meredith served as Kentucky’s solicitor general from 2019 to 2021 when Cameron was attorney general and before that as chief deputy counsel in Bevin’s administration.

As part of Bevin’s legal team, Meredith was involved in decisions about hundreds of controversial criminal pardons and commutations Bevin issued after losing reelection to Democrat Andy Beshear in 2019. Among those pardoned was a man convicted of reckless homicide during a robbery whose family had held a fundraiser for Bevin. 

In his prior roles, Meredith also defended laws and policies restricting abortion, a record that drew loud objections from Democrats when Biden considered nominating him. At that time Meredith had enthusiastic support from McConnell, then the Senate’s Republican leader.