Education & Strategic Planning Division Staff

Chrissy Madjar is the Staff Attorney Supervisor in the Education Branch at the Kentucky DPA. She has spent her entire legal career in indigent defense. A graduate of Gideon’s Promise (Class of 2012), Chrissy began as a trial attorney in Elizabethtown before becoming a capital post-conviction attorney at the Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction Defender in Nashville, TN, representing indigent clients on Tennessee’s Death Row. Upon her return to Kentucky in 2017, she was a trial attorney in the Frankfort Trial Office, and from 2019-2022 she was the Kentucky Innocence Project Education Staff Attorney with a primary focus on forensic science and its implications in the criminal legal system. In 2023, Chrissy was a Visiting Professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law, teaching three criminal law classes and coaching the UK Mock Trial Team, before returning to DPA in her current position in the Education Branch. Chrissy has been part of DPA training faculty for years and continues to develop curriculum and resource materials on a variety of legal topics, including experts, forensics, suppression, trial advocacy, and drafting DPA’s DUI Manual. An Ohio native, Chrissy is a 2012 graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, Ohio and is licensed in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Glenn McClister is an Education Staff Attorney. He received his J.D. from the University of Kentucky in 1997, and for eight years worked as an Assistant Public Advocate in Somerset, Kentucky. Born in Chicago, Glenn attended a protestant seminary for two years after receiving his A.A. degree and then, like his father and brother, became a preacher. Five years later, he quit to pursue graduate work in philosophy. After completing the requirements for an M.A., he then spent two years as a professional actor, getting the chance to play the lead in “Two Gentlemen of Verona” on the stage of the Globe Theater in London, during a summer program there. After having secured a talent agent on 88th street in New York and spending a great deal of time unemployed, Glenn joined the 101st Airborne Division when Desert Storm began and served for two-and-a-half years. After digging ditches in a Kentucky state park for a year, Glenn went to law school, where he won the College of Law Faculty Cup at graduation. In addition to his duties as an advocate, Glenn also spends a great deal of time training public defenders throughout the nation. He has been on the faculty of Missouri’s public defender training and has trained public defenders in Pennsylvania.

Ches Clark is a Staff Attorney with DPA’s Education Branch. A neurodiverse native of western Kentucky, Ches earned his undergraduate degree in creative writing and literature from Murray State University, and subsequently worked as an English teacher, including three years living and teaching abroad in rural Japan. After receiving his J.D. from the University of Kentucky in 2011, he spent more than five years in DPA’s Murray Trial Office and nine years in the agency’s Post-Conviction Branch, before joining Education in early 2026. Ches is the program coordinator for the DPA mentorship program, involved in manual writing and editing, and heavily involved in all DPA staff training with a focus on advanced topics and training created to support Defender Services. He has been involved with DPA’s mentorship program since its inception in 2018, helping new public defenders successfully navigate their early experiences in and out of the courtroom.  Additionally, he also has a hand in several community-driven criminal record expungement efforts. Ches happily resides with his husband of two decades, Joe, their cat, Boots, and has a complex and nontraditional family situation with offspring in Florida, partner Tony in Missouri, and a number of close chosen family members located around the country. He is also passionate about LGBTQIA+ education and advocacy, defending civil liberties, and several strains of geek, nerd, and gaming cultures.

Patti Heying is DPA’s statewide Recruiter. Patti received a master’s degree in Theatre from the University of Kentucky in 1987, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Louisville in 2007. She has worked as an acting and vocal coach in Minnesota and Kentucky for the past 20+ years, including serving as adjunct faculty in the theatre departments at the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville. Patti was the Training Coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy for 5 years and has been the agency’s recruiter since 2007. She designs and provides coaching sessions and workshops on presentation skills for criminal defense attorneys within Kentucky and has been a guest coach in Missouri and New Orleans for NLADA’s Appellate Defender Training. Patti continues to direct, perform and teach with local theatres in the Bluegrass area.

Alaina Faust joined DPA in 2019 as an AmeriCorps VISTA and is now a Training Development Specialist for the Education Division. Alaina graduated from Berea College with a B.A. in Spanish and began her career in the pharmaceutical field, later graduating from the University of Kentucky with a B.S. in biology. She pivoted careers and joined DPA after finding a passion for criminology and criminal justice. She is now pursuing a Master of Science in Computer Science and a graduate certificate in Cybersecurity from the University of Louisville. She currently resides in Shelbyville with her two cats, Albus and Asriel, and enjoys meditating, gaming, and being outside.

GraceAnne Miles graduated from Centre College in 2012 with a BA in Philosophy and Fine Arts; she then completed her MFA at UNCSA in 2021. Her terminal degree is in Scenic Art and Education with a focus on curriculum development and the “Art of Teaching”.  Born in Letcher Co. and having lived in 6 other KY counties since, she considers herself a deeply rooted Kentuckian and is grateful for the opportunity to support all the citizens of her home state. After her experiences working on the Annual Conferences in 2017, 2018, and 2021, she joined the DPA Education Branch full time in February of 2024. She currently lives in Lexington with her fiancé, their gaggle of rescue pets, and is frequently found in the garden or her home studio.  

Jenny Ruoff joined the Division in 2026. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English, a Master of Public Administration, and a Technical Writing and Editing certificate. Jenny spent 22 years in California state government as policy, program, and data research analysts in foster care and Medicaid programs. After moving to Kentucky in 2020, she provided accessibility, program analysis, and event planning contract support to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for 3.5 years. Jenny makes her home in the scenic hills of Georgetown, KY, with her husband and kids, where life is a lively mix of community, church, and (hobby) farm life.