Ronald Ferrier, a former Kenton County constable, was arrested twice in one week on charges of second-degree stalking and violating the conditions of a protective order. The events are not related.
The first arrest occurred on Aug. 31 and stems from Ferrier accusing a victim of having an affair with his wife, according to the police report; the second happened Sept. 2 when Ferrier violated the conditions of his wife’s protective order, according to the second police report.
“The Defendant is accusing the Victim of having an affair with the Defendant’s wife, a woman whom the Victim has never met,” the police report in the stalking case reads.
This isn’t Ferrier’s first run-in with the law. He was convicted of impersonating a peace officer in 2007, but former Gov. Matt Bevin pardoned him in 2019.
“In these communications, the Defendant has made implicit and explicit threats to the Victim which has placed him in fear of death and/or serious physical injury,” the police report in the stalking case reads. “Most recently the Defendant has left voicemails on both the Victim and the Victim’s wife’s phone threatening the Victim, including statements that the Victim has some very serious trouble coming for him.”
In addition to voice messages, Ferrier has been showing up in person to try to find the man, according to the police report.
“The Defendant has appeared at the Victim’s mother’s home in Florence looking for him on multiple occasions in addition to the voicemails that have been left over the last year,” the police report says. “The Victim has also provided information regarding the Defendant’s constant attempts to contact him on social media.”
While Ferrier was eventually voted out in Kenton County, Rep. Adam Koenig (R-Erlanger) said he caused trouble there. Koenig served as a county commissioner during the 2000s.
“He was elected in 2002 and was nothing but a problem for us,” Koenig said.
Koenig said he used Ferrier’s behavior as a constable to inspire House Bill 239, which requires newly elected constables to undergo professional law enforcement training before performing certain peace officer duties.
“Of course, not all constables are bad, but unfortunately, there’s been too many headlines to ignore the fact that constables without proper law enforcement training can be a serious problem,” Koenig said when working to pass the bill.
The bill also has application in Campbell County, where another candidate Bevin pardoned in 2019 after committing a felony is running for constable.
John “J.R.” Roth is a former Campbell County Tea Party activist and was convicted of two counts of trafficking a controlled substance in 2017 after it was found he possessed morphine and oxycodone with the intent to sell. The charges carried up to 15 years in prison before his sentence was commuted to time served, and he was given an unconditional pardon.
Previously, Roth had been arrested for animal cruelty charges stemming from alleged mistreatment of animals on his farm. He was acquitted of that charge after appealing to the Supreme Court.
If Roth is elected, he will face another part of the bill that requires academy entrants to not be felons. Koenig urged his legislative colleagues to pass the bill ahead of Roth’s potential election.
“If he wishes to ever have peace officer powers, yes,” Koenig said on whether Roth would have to go through training. “You also have to be able to pass the entrance requirements to get into the academy. One of those requirements is that you not be a felon, so that wouldn’t work for him.”