Larry Shelton defeated Jude Hehman in the Republican primary for the Kenton County sheriff, and will be facing off against Democratic challenger and former Newport Chief of Police Tom Collins in November.
Kenton County’s previous Sheriff Chuck Korzenborn retired at the end of 2025. Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann (who, as an aside, is running unopposed for reelection this year) appointed former Fort Mitchell Mayor and business owner Jude Hehman to serve out the remainder of Korzenborn’s term, which concludes at the end of 2026.
Hehman garnered endorsements from Korzenborn himself, as well as the county’s prosecutors, also elected positions. Korzenborn occupied the sheriff’s seat for 26 years.
In spite of their cultural associations, most Kentucky 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 and Campbell County both have their own county police departments that operate independently of the sheriffs.
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. Finally, Campbell and Kenton Counties share a combined SWAT team, the current CEO of which is Campbell County Sheriff Mike Jansen.
There are some exceptions to this tendency, such as the Boone County Sheriff’s Department.
Read LINK nky’s explainer to learn about the different roles of sheriffs in Northern Kentucky.
Both Shelton and Collins have run on a platform of expanding the role of the Sheriff’s Office. Hehman does not have a law enforcement background, although he has had a long career in politics and business. Shelton and Collins, on the other hand, do have law enforcement backgrounds. Shelton worked for the Kentucky State Police and is currently an attorney. Collins has worked in other police departments and public safety institutions, besides Newport PD.
“I would like to see the sheriff’s department evolve,” Shelton told LINK nky earlier this year.
“What I understand, it [the Sheriff’s Office] needs a lot of adjusting, and there’s a lot of programs and a lot of things that they could be doing and should be doing as assistance to other agencies,” Collins said.
Hehman, in his conversations with LINK nky, discussed some of the misconceptions around the sheriff’s seat and some of its challenges.
“I’m required to staff the the court, the Justice Center, with a certain amount [of deputies],” Hehman said in early April, “and they’ve just now increased that. As a mayor or as a business owner, I could come up with ways to create revenue. As a sheriff’s office, there’s no creating revenue. My revenue is based on fees that I collect.”
Debates around the role of the sheriff in the community will undoubtedly characterize conversations in the lead up to the November general election.
Check out the full results for all of the primary elections in Kenton County here.