KENTUCKY COUNTY ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION President Joe Ross, Logan County’s attorney, left, presents Woodford County Attorney Alan George with the association’s prestigious Paul D. Cowden Award. (Photo provided by the KCAA)
By Scott White
Woodford Sun Staff
The Kentucky County Attorneys Association (KCAA) bestowed its prestigious Paul D. Cowden Award on Woodford County Attorney Alan George at its annual conference on Feb. 19 in Lexington.
“I was deeply honored to receive the Cowden Award last week. What makes this award so meaningful to me is that my peers in the KCAA determined that I was deserving of this recognition,” George said. “I always had the utmost respect, admiration and appreciation for Paul Cowden, and for me to now have my name forever associated with his is extremely humbling and immensely gratifying. To have received this distinction while serving this incredible community of ours makes that award even more special, and one that I will cherish forever.”
The Cowden Award was created by the KCAA in memory of the long-time and highly respected Montgomery County attorney, who died in 2012, to honor his many years of public service and for the sterling principles that defined him.
KCAA only awards this recognition when it is determined that, over the course of a substantial, consequential and impactful career, a county attorney has emulated the integrity, dedication and devotion for which the late Paul D. Cowden was known.
George is in his 33rd year as treasurer of the KCAA and is only the third county attorney to receive the award.
Earlier this year, George announced he would not be seeking reelection, and, when he completes his eighth term on Dec. 31, 2026, he will have served 36 years as Woodford County’s attorney – the longest of any Woodford County attorney.
George’s career has been recognized by his peers several times before. In 2009, he was named Kentucky’s County Attorney of the Year for helping to author and secure legislative passage of Kentucky’s DUI-drugs per se law; he received the Excellence Award from the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy in 2012 for his work on indoor air regulation; in 2013, he was named Kentucky’s Child Support Enforcement Attorney of the Year; and in 2020, he received the Child Support Enforcement Outstanding Performance Award.