TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
The Honorable Darryl T. Owens 1937–2022
Former State Legislator, Attorney, Community Leader, U.S. Army
By Aaron Williams
From 1965 to 1969, Owens served as the first Black
various parks in Kentucky. In 1985, Owens ran for mayor of Louisville and lost. Owens was the first African Ameri- can elected to the Jefferson County Fiscal Court. For 21 years, he served on the Jefferson County Fiscal Court representing C District. Then in 2005, he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives to serve District 43. Owens also became chairman of the Judiciary Committee during his time in the House. He introduced important expungement legislation. House Bill 64 included language to help ex-felons get jobs by expanding offenses that can be expunged and making removing felonies from their permanent record easier. Cunningham said he believed Owens’ biggest accomplishment was his work to restore voting rights for people convicted of nonviolent felonies. He was a member of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees. Owens was also a member of the Louisville Urban League, National Bar Associa- tion, Kentucky Bar Association, and the Louisville Bar Association. He served as president of the Louisville Chap- ter, NAACP, and Louisville Legal Aid Society. Brother Darryl T. Owens is survived by his wife Brenda Lucien Owens, daughters Deborah Owens (Ferguson Evans) and Dedra Owens; stepson Desmond Sweatt and sisters Patricia Herring and Leslie Tucker.
O n July 22, 2022, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, Kentucky state senator Gerald A. Neal, state represen- tative Pamela Stevenson, and other local officials held a ceremony dedicating a memorial sign for a section of Interstate 64 honoring the late state Representa- tive Darryl T. Owens. Owens spent his life to public service and civil rights in his hometown of Louisville, KY. He broke racial barriers as an attorney, in politics, and state government. Former Kentucky state legislator and Louisville community leader Darryl T. Owens (Delta Zeta 1956) entered the Chapter Invisible on January 4, 2022. Darryl T. Owens was born in Louis- ville, KY in November 10, 1937. Owens graduated from Louisville’s Central High School. He graduated with a B.A. degree from Central State University in Wilberforce, OH. In 1962, Owens earned a J.D. degree from Howard Uni- versity Law School in Washington, DC. He served in the United States Army and was deputy commanding officer of the Examining and Induction Station of the Army Adjutant General Corps in Oakland, CA. After his honorable discharge, Ow- ens returned home to Louisville, where he opened his law practice in 1965.
assistant prosecutor of the Louisville police court. Later, he became the first Black assistant Kentucky attorney general and the first Black president of the Legal Aid Society. He protested for school desegregation and busing in Louisville. Following the April 1968 as- sassination of Rev. Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., Owens helped calm tensions in the Louisville community. Owens served as NAACP President, Louisville branch from 1970 to 1976. He also served on the University of Louisville Board of Trustees, the Louis- ville Urban League, and local and state government advisory committees. Owens was an early supporter of the African American Heritage Committee. He provided seed funding for the formal establishment of the African American Heritage Foundation, the founding organization for the current Kentucky Center for African American Heritage. He served as a juvenile court judge in 1980 and the trial commissioner of Jefferson County Court. He was a member of the Kentucky Workmen’s Compensation Board and from 1976 to 1983. Owens was instrumental in obtaining government grants to assist chronically ill patients, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), the Big Brothers program, homeless programs, vocational educational programs, and
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