Gregory F. Van Tatenhove
Quick Facts
Biography
Gregory Frederick Van Tatenhove also known as Greg Van Tatenhove (born 1960) is a United States federal judge.
Van Tatenhove was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended high school in Jessamine County, Kentucky and received a B.A. from Asbury College in 1982. After completing his undergraduate degree, he attended the University of Kentucky College of Law where he obtained a J.D. in 1989. He was a law clerk for the Hon. Eugene E. Siler, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, from 1989 to 1990. Van Tatenhove served as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice from 1990 to 1994. From 1994 to 2001, he was Chief of staff & legal counsel for Congressman Ron Lewis. In 2001 he was appointed United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, a post he held from 2001 to 2005.
On September 13, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Van Tatenhove to fill a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky previously held by Karl S. Forester. Van Tatenhove was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 21, 2005, and received his commission on January 5, 2006.
On January 25, 2016, Van Tatenhove ruled in favor of the Christian apologetics organization Answers in Genesis in the case of Ark Encounter LLC et al. vs. Bob Stewart et al., ordering the state to commence processing the application for the tax rebate incentives for the Ark Encounter theme park that would become available once the attraction opened. Bevin announced that the state would not appeal Van Tatenhove's decision, and later replaced four of the nine members on the Tourism Development Finance Authority.