Dawn Michelle Gentry

Dawn grew up in Erlanger, Ky. She graduated from Covington Latin School and Northern Kentucky University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 2003. She attended Salmon P. Chase College of Law, where she received her law degree in 2006.

The first ten years of Dawn’s legal career was primarily spent on family law, administrative law, civil litigation, and appellate work. She also practiced collaborative law, which enables couples who have decided to separate or end their marriages to work with their lawyers to achieve a settlement without the need of going to court.

Dawn served as Kenton County Family Court Judge, Division Five from January, 2017 through December, 2020. As Family Court Judge, she heard and decided all types of cases involving families, parents, and children, including divorce; child support; child custody; paternity; adoption; domestic violence; dependency, neglect, and abuse; termination of parental rights; and juvenile matters.

In addition to Dawn’s extensive professional experience handling family-law matters, she has a personal understanding of how the family law system can affect families and individuals. It is her personal story that has given her an understanding of what children experience when they witness domestic violence and how it can affect them, even from a very young age. Dawn’s experiences have also given her insight into how divorces affect not only children, but the parents as well. Finally, Dawn’s judicial and political career have made it possible to recognize how important privacy is when anyone is undergoing any type of legal battle.