Director of Kenton County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Steve Hensley was recognized as a 2022 Pioneer Award winner at a recent Kenton County Fiscal Court meeting for his contributions to the community.
The Pioneer Award is given to residents of Kenton County who provide service to the community and demonstrate leadership combined with an awareness of the needs of fellow residents.
During his time with the county, Hensley organized a new emergency operations center, which also serves as a continuity of operations site for high-level emergencies within Kenton County.
Hensley utilized the incident command system as the basis for a resource-sharing effort among federal, state and local entities; helping lay the foundation for events and responses, including Cincinnati’s annual Riverfest, the COVID-19 response, the closure of the Ohio River, and Interstate 71/75 following the commercial motor vehicle collision and massive fire on the Brent Spence Bridge.
“I can tell you, in my eight years in my role, there are certain people you go to to take care of things and make sure that things are okay,” Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann said. “And the thing about Steve Hensley is he’s always there. He will never take the credit, but I just want to tell you how much we appreciate it. We don’t get to say thank you enough, Steve.”
He previously served as police chief and city administrator for the city of Fort Mitchell, and he currently serves as a special deputy for the Kenton County Sheriff’s Office.
“I’m very honored and humbled to receive this award,” Hensley said. “I know many of the other recipients of this, and I feel like you lowered the standard a little bit judge to let me in, but nonetheless, I’m very thankful, and I’m very appreciative of everybody here as well because you guys have all contributed to a lot of the successes.”
