Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20, 2025

The Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo) held a Board of Directors meeting and Strategic Planning Session at 9 a.m. beginning on Thursday, June 19, 2025, and ending on Friday, June 20, 2025. This meeting was held at Benham Schoolhouse Inn located at 100 Central Avenue in Benham, Harlan County, Kentucky, pursuant to proper notice given in accordance with KRS 65.312(3).

The roll was called. The following Directors were present: President Dan Mosley, Harlan Co. Judge/Executive; Jodi Albright, Laurel Co. Attorney; Scott Alexander, Perry Co. Judge/Executive; Scott Bates, Henry Co. Judge/Executive; Elbert Bennett, Caldwell Co. Magistrate; Jonathan Bruer, Carlisle Co. PVA; Amy Chandler, Warren Co. Attorney; Joe Pat Covington, Scott County Judge/Executive; Chuck Dills, Grant Co. Judge/Executive; Gary Ginn, Fayette Co. Coroner; Stevie Givens, Butler Co. Magistrate; Bobby Hall, Greenup Co. Judge/Executive; Doug Hall, Floyd Co. Circuit Court Clerk; Steve Henry, Webster Co. Judge/ Executive; John Hunt, Floyd Co. Sheriff; Rich Liebe, Christian Co. Magistrate; David Livingston, Scott Co. Magistrate; Michael Logsdon, Oldham Co. Magistrate; Gary Moore, Boone Co. Judge/Executive; David Nicholson, Jefferson Co. Circuit Court Clerk; Adam O'Nan, Union Co. Judge/Executive; Joe Ross, Logan Co. Attorney; Rick Stiltner, Menifee Co. Judge/Executive; Greg Terry, Carlisle Co. Judge/Executive; and Pat White, Whitley Co. Judge/Executive.

Others participating included: Jim Henderson, Executive Director/CEO; Tim Sturgill, General Counsel; Temple Juett, Chief Insurance Officer; Shellie Hampton, Director of Government Affairs; Karen Basham, Chief Financial Officer; Rich Ornstein, Attorney; Jennifer Burnett, Director of Strategic Operations; Brenna Angel, Associate Director of Communications; Jeremy Baird, Director of Insurance; Kayla Carter, Policy Analyst; Sue Porter, Michelle Barrett and Kathy Marshall, KACo Marketing Agents/Roeding Insurance; Beth Pleasant, Administrative Specialist; Marcus Ely, guest speaker; Cathy Liebe, Christian County guest; Collin Johnson, Commonwealth Alliances/KACo lobbyist; Colby Goss, Harlan County Deputy Judge; Keri Stevens, Executive Administrative Assistant/Finance Officer, Harlan County; Adam Bowling, State Representative; Larry Carter, Kendall Reed and Logan Stenberg, SERVPRO; and Sonya Chesser, Executive Assistant to the CEO/Director of Administrative Services.

President Mosley called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m. on Thursday, June 19, 2025.

Squire Liebe gave the invocation.

Judge Covington led the Pledges of Allegiance to the flags of the United States of America and Commonwealth of Kentucky.

President Mosley introduced Harlan County citizen and pillar of the community, Marcus Ely, to give the welcome.

President Mosley recognized KACo County Champions for their participation in the two-day strategic planning session and meeting: Rob Brown, Local Government Insurance Agency; Sue Porter, Kathy Marshall and Michele Barrett, Roeding Insurance; Larry Carter, Kendall Reed and Logan Stenberg, SERVPRO; and Erica Mack, Walther, Gay & Mack.

Mr. Henderson provided an overview of the schedule and recognized KACo staff.

Motion made by Michael Logsdon, seconded by David Livingston, to approve the minutes of March 30, 2025, and May 6, 2025, meetings as emailed. Motion carried.

President Mosley shared information about the recipients of the 2025 KACo Presidential Scholarships, now in its 25th year. This year's recipients are Claire Sawyers, a graduate from Harlan County High School, and Gracie Shelton, a graduate from Harlan Independent High School. Each student will receive $8,000 in scholarships, each presented with $2,000 annually for up to four years. Both students will attend Eastern Kentucky University in the fall with plans to work in the healthcare industry after college.

President Mosley thanked those who served on this year's scholarship selection committee: Menifee County Judge/Executive Rick Stiltner, Logan County Attorney Joe Ross, Floyd County Circuit Court Clerk Doug Hall, Scott County Magistrate David Livingston and Grant County Clerk Tabatha Clemons.

President Mosley highlighted the three presidential scholarship recipients who recently finished up their scholarship eligibility. He also noted two Pat Hillard Memorial Scholarships were presented to Sonya Chesser's son, Cordell, and Susan Riddell's daughter, Holland. Cordell graduated from Anderson County High School, while Holland graduated from Western Hills High School.

President Mosley requested approval of the following appointments:

Reappoint Union County Judge/Executive Adam O'Nan and Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk David Nicholson to the KACo Workers Compensation Fund Board for a three-year term beginning July 1, 2025, and to expire June 30, 2028.

Motion made by Rick Stiltner, seconded by Chuck Dills, to reappoint Union County Judge/Executive Adam O'Nan and Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk David Nicholson to the KACo Workers Compensation Fund Board for a three-year term. Motion carried.

Appoint Johnson County Judge/Executive Mark McKenzie to the KACo Leasing Trust Board to fill the unexpired term of former Grant County Clerk Tabatha Clemons, effective immediately, with term expiring December 31, 2026.

Motion made by John Hunt, seconded by Bobby Hall, to appoint Johnson County Judge/Executive Mark McKenzie to the KACo Leasing Trust Board to fill the unexpired term of former Grant County Clerk Tabatha Clemons. Motion carried.

On the NACo Board of Directors, reappoint Jefferson County Circuit Clerk David Nicholson to serve as Kentucky's representative, reappoint Oldham County Magistrate Michael Logsdon to represent Kentucky as a 100% state, and reappoint Warren County Attorney Amy Chandler to represent Kentucky as a Top 12 state, each for one-year terms beginning July 2025, and expiring at NACo's Annual Business Meeting in July 2026.

Motion made by Greg Terry, seconded by Adam O'Nan, to reappoint Jefferson County Circuit Clerk David Nicholson, Oldham County Magistrate Michael Logsdon and Warren County Attorney Amy Chandler as KACo's representatives to the NACo Board of Directors each for a one-year term. Motion carried.

President Mosley said Tabatha Clemons' resignation as an elected county official has also created a vacancy on KACo's Executive Committee. Therefore, in addition to the office of KACo 2nd Vice President being open at KACo's annual business meeting, so will the office 1st Vice President. The letter of intent will be posted on KACo's website in mid-September for any representative member interested in seeking either office. He said no more than one member of the Executive Committee shall be from the same county and no candidate shall file a letter of intention for more than one office. During the upcoming term, there will be two judge/executives and one magistrate returning to the Executive Committee from Harlan, Union and Oldham counties. Letters of Intention must be received by Oct. 13, 2025.

President Mosley requested approval of memorial resolutions for former Hart County Coroner J. Steven Huff; former Kenton Commonwealth's Attorney Don Buring; former Lyon County Magistrate Stephen Cruce; and former Simpson County Magistrate Hugh Banton. Additionally, he sought ratifications of resolutions previously adopted last month by the Executive Committee for Commonwealth's Attorney and former Ballard County Attorney Michael Stacy; former Calloway County Sheriff Larry Roberts; former Meade County Sheriff Joe Greer; and former Trimble County Attorney Bobby Knox True.

Motion made by Gary Ginn, seconded by David Nicholson, to approve the memorial resolutions as emailed. Motion carried.

Motion made by Gary Ginn, seconded by Gary Moore, to ratify the memorial resolutions as previously adopted last month by the KACo Executive Committee. Motion carried.

President Mosley asked for a moment of silence in their memory.

The board took a break at 9:50 a.m. and returned at 10:05 a.m.

President Mosley initiated the strategic planning discussion by highlighting KACo's top legislative priority for the upcoming legislative session: jail solutions. Board members were asked to collect data on their respective county jail costs and submit it to KACo staff prior to today's meeting.

Mr. Henderson said staff has collected the data and will present it to the board. Additionally, staff will provide the background to explain how we arrived at this point. He emphasized that today's focus will be on actionable steps we can take to advance legislation toward a jail solution.

Ms. Smith provided a historic timeline of Kentucky's county jail system. Prior to the 1975 constitutional amendment, counties operated both the judicial and jail systems and used court fees to help finance jails. A "dieting fee" system was in place: the state paid for felony offenders and counties paid for misdemeanor offenders. Judicial reform followed in 1976 with major jail system reform legislation enacted in 1982, and 1983 began the controlled intake policy. In 1984, a jail study was completed, and jail legislation was passed to establish bed allotment and the $10 per diem reimbursement for state inmates. In 1988, a court case was decided, Campbell County v. Commonwealth, among other lawsuits including state inmates suing to be housed in state prisons, and multiple counties suing the state over the controlled intake policy and overcrowding due to state inmates not being transferred. The court ruled that the state could not shift the burden of housing state inmates to counties. However, the state could contract with counties to house state inmates. In 1992, the Class D inmate program began. In 2000, the Class D program expanded to Class C inmates (community custody). In 2008, county fiscal courts led by the Kentucky County Judge/Executive Association filed a suit against the Commonwealth seeking state reimbursement for housing inmates beginning on the day of arrest for a felony offense, but it was dismissed in 2010. In 2011, the Local Corrections Assistance Fund was established, which resulted in some funding for all county jails beginning in FY 2013. In 2021, funding for state inmate programming resulted in an additional $2 or $10 per diem (amount varied depending on available programming) for state inmate program participation, and payments for jails were established upon inmate completion of approved program and sentence credit. In 2022, county jails received the first increase in the per diem in fifteen years, increasing the jail per diem by $4 to $35.34 effective FY 2023.

Ms. Smith also provided data on jail classifications, weekly jail population reports; county jail populations from 2019-2025; state inmates in county jails from 2019-2025; state revenue sources, jail revenue for both full service and closed jail revenue for FY 2024, percentage change in jail revenue categories from FY 2019 to FY 2024; county general fund support for jails from FY 2019 to FY 2024; percentage increase in county general fund support for FY 2019 to FY 2024; number of federal inmates housed in county jails; jail expenditures for FY 2024; total county jail expenditures from FY 2019 to FY 2024 including expenses, medical costs, and list of medical providers being utilized and a snapshot of closed jails.

Ms. Smith presented the board with a copy of the "County 101: State funding sources for county jails" report.

President Mosley said he, along with Judge O'Nan, Mr. Henderson, Ms. Hampton, Ms. Smith and Collin Johnson met last Friday with Rep. Jason Petrie, chair of the House Appropriations and Revenue and co-vice-chairs, Rep. Adam Bowling and Rep. Josh Bray, to discuss the jail issue. He said the board needs to present solutions to the General Assembly. President Mosley opened the floor for discussion.

After much discussion, suggestions included the following for consideration: using the federal per diem rate to contrast with the state per diem rate; more broadly redefining the statutory definition of a regional jail; building inflation into the per diem; and creating economies of scale on a statewide contract for services such as medical provider, food provider, and other services.

It was also recommended to meet with other corrections-related stakeholders such as Supreme Court justices, including the Chief Justice, educating them on the issues and inviting the Administration Office of the Courts to the table.

There was discussion concerning the pros and cons of regionalization. Other points made included broadening the use of cost-of-living adjustments into all the numbers surrounding jail cost and looking at how technology can be built into jail standards, which should help reduce personnel costs.

Lastly, a suggestion was offered to send cities a monthly bill for incarceration costs, if a city chooses to arrest on a citable offense. It was presumed this might open the discussion with cities as part of a solution to jail costs. It was noted that legislators have downplayed the idea of billing cities and instead, directed counties to look elsewhere for solutions to incarceration costs.

President Mosley asked board members a series of policy questions and received responses in support of the following points: costs incurred by counties for regionalizing and modifying facilities should be covered by state; increase the jail operation pay (bed allotment) at least in line with the CPI; add the CPI to the per diem on state inmates, and per diem payments paid by the state should begin 60 days after additional incarceration. Ms. Chandler said on day 61, inmates should become the responsibility of the state. The majority of the board members favored the state taking ownership of their jail and were willing to transfer ownership along with any associated debt. Counties with a full-service jail expressed willingness to continue paying their county jailer at the same rate even if the jail were closed to create a regional jail in another county where that was determined to be the direction those counties chose. Additionally, the majority of board members supported the idea of counties paying the state up to 60 days at the current rate to hold county inmates, provided the state had custody of the jail.

President Mosley asked board members if any of their counties planned to build a new jail. Squire Givens said his county was interested in building a new regional jail to support the tri-county area of Butler, Ohio and Edmonson.

Mr. Henderson said jailers are representative members of KACo and noted that that the representative member could not be present for this meeting. Staff will continue to work with all pertinent affiliates to seek solutions.

The board recessed at 11:30 a.m.

The board reconvened Friday, June 20, 2025, at 9 a.m.

President Mosley welcomed Rep. Bowling to address the board. Rep. Bowling said the House A&R doors are open and encouraged the board to reach out with legislative matters.

President Mosley recognized Mr. Juett who is retiring in September and welcomed Jeremy Baird as the new director of insurance. President Mosley called on Mr. Juett to give a few remarks.

Ms. Basham presented and discussed the financial statement for period ending May 31, 2025.

Motion made by David Livingston, seconded by Joe Pat Covington, to acknowledge receipt of the financial report as presented. Motion carried.

Ms. Basham presented and discussed the proposed FY 2025/26 budget for the board's approval. She said the Executive Committee, including the Audit Committee, made up of Sheriff John Hunt, Judge Rick Stiltner and Judge Chuck Dills, has reviewed the proposed budget and the Executive Committee recommends final approval and adoption by the KACo Board.

Motion made by David Nicholson, seconded by Chuck Dills, to approve the FY 2025/26 budget as presented and as recommended by the KACo Executive Committee. Motion carried.

Ms. Basham presented and discussed the FY 2025/26 program administration agreements between KACo and the following KACo programs: the Kentucky Association of Counties Insurance Agency, Inc.; the Kentucky Association of Counties Workers Compensation Self-Insurance Fund; the Kentucky Association of Counties All Lines Fund; the Kentucky Association
of Counties Leasing Trust; and the Kentucky Association of Counties Unemployment Insurance Fund. The agreements are for a one-year term, beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026.

Motion made by David Nicholson, seconded by Scott Bates, to approve the FY 2025/26 program administration agreements as presented. Motion carried.

President Mosley called on Jodi Albright to provide an update on the recovery process occurring in Laurel County from the recent tornado. Mr. Albright discussed the impact on the community and the overwhelming support by Kentuckians. He thanked those in the room who reached out to him.

President Mosley offered wrap up discussion concerning the jail issue and other matters.

Judge Moore said Kentucky's gas tax is getting ready to drop again by 1.4 cents per gallon starting July 1, which will have an impact for county road funding. He's heard mention by some legislators to reset the floor, which he hopes will happen in the incoming session.

Judge Moore said it's important to ensure that state legislative staff is educated on legislative matters.

Judge Moore said he has never seen such a great attack on local control in the past few sessions, including the state taking away driver's license/Real I.D. from the circuit court clerks offices, which has been a catastrophe. President Mosley agreed and welcomed having county government the opportunity to provide this service to its constituents.

President Mosley said it has been a pleasure to host the board and staff in Harlan County and thanked each member for what they do in their respective counties.

The next meeting is Sept. 25, at 1 p.m. at the KACo office.

Motion made by David Nicholson, seconded by Gary Ginn, to adjourn the meeting at 10:04 a.m. Motion carried.