Kenton County has become the latest jurisdiction in Northern Kentucky to ratify mutual aid agreements, enhancing its ability to share resources during disasters and emergencies.
During a meeting on Tuesday, the Kenton County Fiscal Court approved a resolution for the Statewide Emergency Management Mutual Aid and Assistance Agreement.
Mutual aid involves sharing people and resources during disasters and routine work like policing and firefighting. The practice is common in Northern Kentucky as cities and counties frequently share personnel. One such example is the Covington and Newport police departments sharing personnel for policing situations.
Steve Hensley, Kenton County’s homeland security and emergency management director, stated that the grant would assist the county in distributing funds, personnel and resources to areas in need across the state.
The agreement simplifies aid requests, clarifies procedures, and allows FEMA to reimburse eligible services, enhancing preparedness and cooperation among governments in Kentucky.
“It’s just a supplemental document that will go with our other mutual aid agreements that we have here locally,” Hensley said. “It won’t supersede any of those, but what it will do is it’ll give us the foundation when we deploy resources like the eastern Kentucky, western Kentucky, or even out of state.”
Other cities in Kenton County that have entered into mutual aid agreements include Independence, Edgewood, and Park Hills.
LINK nky’s Nathan Granger contributed to this report.