The Trial Division provides service to indigent individuals accused of crime and facing a hearing or a trial. The Division is led by the Trial Division Director, Damon Preston, who supervises six managers, including the Capital Trial Branch Manager, and the Northern, Bluegrass, Eastern, Central, Western and Jefferson Regions. The trial public defenders are supported by investigators, alternative sentencing workers, clerks, paralegals, social workers and secretaries. 30 full-time trial offices cover one or more counties. Each of the full-time offices contract with attorneys in private practice to provide conflict representation.
Glenda Edwards began her career with DPA in 1999 in the newly formed Columbia Field Office. She worked as a staff attorney representing juvenile and adult indigent defendants. In 2003, she became the Directing Attorney of the Columbia Office. She was named Central Regional Manager in January of 2010. As such, she supervised six offices—Columbia, Glasgow, Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Shepherdsville, and Owensboro. In February of 2011, Glenda became the Trial Division Director. Glenda is a 1998 graduate of the University of Louisville, Brandeis School of Law and 1995 graduate of Campbellsville University.