Judge Will Moynahan was appointed by Gov. Andy Beshear to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in April 2025 to serve the 5th Appellate District, which encompasses Fayette, Madison, Franklin, Scott, Jessamine, Woodford, Clark and Bourbon Counties.
Part of a family with more than a century of roots in Jessamine County, Judge Moynahan was raised in London, Kentucky, and graduated from South Laurel High School as valedictorian. After earning his bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University, with honors, Judge Moynahan joined the United States Navy through officer candidate school. Completing advanced flight training in Texas just as the 9/11 attack occurred, Judge Moynahan earned his wings as a naval aviator in January 2002 and was assigned to fly the F-18 Hornet.
Serving with Strike-Fighter Squadron 25 in Lemoore, California, during his fleet tour, Judge Moynahan completed two six-month deployments aboard the USS John C. Stennis (2004) and USS Ronald Reagan (2006), respectively. During the latter deployment, he flew 40 combat missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. For his 3-year shore tour, Judge Moynahan served as an instructor pilot with Training Squadron 21, before transitioning to the Navy Reserve in 2009.
Upon leaving active-duty, Judge Moynahan used his GI Bill to attend law school. He took mostly night classes at George Washington University Law School, working during the day as a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. He graduated from GW Law in 2013, with high honors, and returned to Kentucky to clerk for Judge Eugene Siler, Jr., on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. During this same period, Judge Moynahan remained in the Navy Reserve, serving as the Operations and Executive Officer for Training Squadron 21’s reserve component in Kingsville, Texas.
Following his appellate court clerkship, Judge Moynahan was hired in 2014 by the U.S. Department of Justice through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. He was assigned to the Antitrust Division in Washington and prosecuted bid-rigging and price-fixing cases. In the fall of 2016, Judge Moynahan was involuntarily recalled to active duty to serve as the Executive Officer of Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, the United States’ only permanent installation on the African continent.
Following this 12-month mobilization, Judge Moynahan returned to DOJ in 2018, but transitioned to become an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Kentucky. Working in the fraud division in Lexington, Kentucky, he prosecuted all manner of financial crimes, as well as health care fraud, aggravated identity theft and public corruption.
At the same time, Judge Moynahan returned to part-time Navy Reserve duty, assuming command of the Training Squadron 9 reserve component, where he led 25 Reserve instructor pilots in teaching the next generation of Navy and Marine Corps strike aviators at Naval Air Station Meridian, Mississippi. In August 2020, Judge Moynahan was promoted to the rank of Captain (O-6), and assumed command of the Navy’s Expeditionary Combat Readiness Center’s reserve component in Norfolk, Virginia. In May 2024, Judge Moynahan assumed command of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) Five’s reserve component. Based in Yokosuka, Japan, CSG-5 is the Navy’s only permanently forward deployed carrier strike group.
Judge Moynahan’s military decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Air Medal (2), the Meritorious Service Medal (2), the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal (2), along with other squadron and theater awards. He has flown more than 3,200 hours in tactical jet aircraft and has more than 300 carrier arrested landings. In July 2024, Judge Moynahan graduated, with distinction, from the U.S. Army War College, earning a master’s degree in Strategic Studies.
Judge Moynahan is married to Elizabeth Moynahan, a pharmacist at a Lexington hospital. They have two daughters, ages 12 and 9, who attend public schools in Fayette County. Judge Moynahan has taken an active role at Rosa Parks Elementary, serving for two years as the PTA treasurer and more recently as a parent member on the School-Based Decision Making (SBDM) Council for the 2024-2025 school year.