Larry Shelton, a local attorney and former police officer, will become the new Kenton County sheriff in 2027, according to election results Tuesday night.
Candidate Party Vote Count* Tom Collins Democrat 26,222 Larry Shelton Republican 28,261
“I’m just blessed that the citizens came out and supported me,” Shelton told LINK nky Tuesday night.
Shelton faced off against Democrat Robert “Tom” Collins in the election. Collins is a former police chief for Newport. Shelton had no ill words to say about his opponent.
“I had a formidable opponent,” said Shelton, who “ran a great campaign.”
Shelton formerly worked for the Kenton County Police Department. He earned both his law degree and a master’s degree in public administration from Northern Kentucky University.
Former Kenton County Sheriff Charles “Chuck” Korzenborn retired at the end of last year. The Kenton County Judge/Executive then appointed former Fort Mitchell Mayor Jude Hehman, a Republican, to serve out the remainder of the term. Hehman ran in the May primary but lost to Shelton. Collins did not have a primary challenger.
All sheriffs serve four-year terms and have no term limits. In fact, many sheriffs can occupy their seats for long periods of time if they’re popular: Boone County’s former Sheriff Mike Helmig, for instance, served as the county sheriff for nearly thirty years. Korzenborn served as the sheriff for 26 years.
If a sheriff dies, resigns, retires or is removed from the post before the term is up, the county judge/executive appoints a replacement to serve out the remainder of the term. There is no legal requirement in Kentucky for a candidate to have a law enforcement background to run for sheriff.
In spite of their cultural associations, most sheriffs’ primary duties do not focus on patrolling and other workaday law enforcement activities. While they may take part in those duties if needed, if you call 911 in Kenton County, the officer who responds will likely come from a municipal department, rather than the sheriff’s office. In fact, Kenton County has its own police department for law enforcement activities that operates independently of the sheriff and has its own leadership structure.
Instead, sheriffs’ primary duties focus on property tax collection, court security and serving court processes like subpoenas, summons and court orders, including protective orders. Sheriffs (or their proxies) also sit as voting members of county boards of election, perform vehicle inspections for driver’s license applications and provide consumer protection services like scam warnings.
As an aside, sheriffs and county jails are politically separate in Kentucky, unlike some other states. Jailers are in their own elected positions, although the two institutions may work together.
Both Collins and Shelton ran on a platform of expanding the role of the sheriff’s department in the county, although neither of them advocated for something as robust as the Boone County Sheriff, the lone full-service law enforcement agency operating out of a sheriff’s office in NKY.
Shelton advocated for the establishment of a real-time crime center, similar to ones operating in Louisville and Lexington. Real-time crime centers integrate camera footage and dispatch communications to track crime trends. At a candidate forum in October, Shelton emphasized, “it’s not Flock cameras.”
“We’re using that data to actually get ahead of crime,” said Shelton in October. “For so long, police have always been reactive.”
Shelton also wants to establish a search and rescue team and expand the sheriff’s K9-based service. You can read a full description of what he’d like to achieve during his time in office at his campaign website.
“”We’re going to try start working on that as soon as possible,” Shelton said.
