Kenton County votes to repeal and replace ethics policies

The Kenton County Fiscal Court approved a sweeping rewrite of the county’s ethics code Tuesday, changing financial disclosure requirements, the makeup of the county Ethics Commission and how ethics complaints are handled.

The new ordinance replaces the county’s existing ethics code, which dates to 1994 and was most recently amended in 2010. County officials have said the rewrite is intended to streamline the code and make Kenton County’s rules more consistent with neighboring counties. The ordinance is modeled largely on Boone County’s ethics code.

Among the changes, the Ethics Commission will shrink from five members to three, certain property disclosures will no longer be required, the definition of immediate family for nepotism rules will narrow and ethics hearings will generally be closed to the public unless the person accused requests an open hearing.

The fiscal court performed a first reading of the ordinance in late August, although County Administrator Joe Shriver said the process of changing the ordinance has been underway for years.

County Attorney Stacy Tapke drafted the new ordinance at Shriver’s request.

Here are some key changes enacted by the new ordinance:

• The previous ordinance explicitly required officials and employees to act in the public’s best interests. That specific language does not appear in the new ordinance. County officials previously told LINK nky that they believe those responsibilities remain incorporated into the ordinance’s standards of conduct.
  
• The previous ordinance explicitly prohibited retaliation against someone who filed an ethics complaint. The new ordinance does not contain that provision.
  
• Elected officials, candidates and certain employees will no longer be required to list commercial and residential property in Kenton County worth more than $5,000, excluding their primary residence. The new ordinance still requires officials and employees to disclose private financial interests in contracts or matters pending before the Fiscal Court or a county agency.
  
• The definition of family covered by the county’s nepotism rules is narrower. The previous ordinance included parents, children, siblings, grandparents and several in-law relationships. The new ordinance defines immediate family as a spouse, someone living in the official’s household or someone claimed by the official or their spouse as a dependent on a federal tax return
  
• The commission will shrink from five members to three, and members will no longer be limited to two consecutive terms. The judge/executive will appoint members with Fiscal Court approval, replacing the previous nominating committee process.
  
• The ordinance adds a “rule of necessity” exception allowing the county to enter into a contract in which an official, employee, immediate family member or business associate has an economic interest. The interest must be publicly disclosed, and the county must formally determine that the contract is in the government’s best interest because of limited supply, price or a documented emergency.
  
• Under the previous ordinance, preliminary proceedings were confidential but adjudicatory hearings were public. Under the new ordinance, due-process hearings are closed unless the person subject to the complaint requests that the hearing be opened. Records remain confidential while an investigation is pending; after a final decision, Kentucky’s Open Records Act governs their availability.
  
• Record keeping for the ethics commission now moves from the clerk of the Kenton County Circuit Court to the Fiscal Court itself.
  
• There’s no longer an explicit requirement to refer evidence of criminal wrongdoing found in a complaint to a county prosecutor, although the commission could still levy fines.
  
• Complaints must be submitted within one year of the alleged incident or within a year of its discovery. The previous ordinance lacked this time limit.

County officials characterized the changes primarily as an effort to streamline a rarely used ordinance and make Kenton County’s rules more consistent with those elsewhere in Northern Kentucky.

Tapke said ethics complaints are uncommon.

“In my 22 years with the office, I think maybe I can count on one hand the number of ethics complaints that have been received and processed,” said Tapke, adding that complaints tend to increase around election time.

Commissioners also said reducing the commission from five members to three could make it easier to fill vacancies. Nienaber, who serves on Fort Wright’s municipal Board of Ethics, said finding volunteers for such boards can be difficult.

“People do not want to volunteer to these boards,” he said. “I trust that three people would adjudicate things as well as five people, and probably more efficiently, to be honest with you.”

County Commissioner Beth Sewell similarly pointed to the elimination of the nominating committee as a way to simplify the process.

“I think that the changes get rid of some cumbersomeness, especially with the part where we had to select the nominating committee,” said Sewell.

“Remember that changes can be made again,” said Sewell. “I think we get in our minds that everything’s in concrete. It’s not the Constitution; it’s not that hard to change something.”

Knochelmann, Nienaber and Sewell all voted in favor of the new ordinance. County Commissioner Jon Draud, who was recovering from surgery, did not attend the meeting.

You can read the new ordinance below.