A special judge will be called in to rule on whether the McCracken Fiscal Court can legally require more fiscal transparency from the County Clerk.
McCracken Circuit judges Craig Clymer and Tim Kaltenbach have recused themselves from a legal battle between Clerk Jeff Jerrell and the Fiscal Court stating that they may not be able to stay impartial to the case because they could be familiar with its circumstances.
Paducah attorney Stacey Blankenship, who is representing the Fiscal Court in the lawsuit Jerrell filed in McCracken Circuit Court June 20, said she is awaiting the appointment of a special judge as the next step in the case. She said the appointment could take several weeks to a month.
Louisville attorney Kent Wicker, who is representing Jerrell, filed the lawsuit against the Fiscal Court as a whole and the commissioners individually after they unanimously voted in favor of an ordinance on June 13 to convert Jerrell's budget from a fee system to a fee pool.
The change grants more fiscal transparency to the Fiscal Court by forcing Jerrell to turn all of the excess fees of his office over to the county treasurer each month and run expenses through the Fiscal Court, a practice that is not currently required and has not been in recent memory.
Jerrell has adamantly disputed the ordinance from the beginning and said that he will not adhere to the change. He claims the action is illegal under Kentucky law, which is stated in the lawsuit.
On July 8, Blankenship filed a response to the claims in the lawsuit and ultimately asked that it be dismissed. She also filed a motion to dismiss Judge-Executive Van Newberry and Commissioners Jerry Beyer, Ronnie Freeman and Zana Renfro as individual defendants.
Wicker filed a summary judgment asking the judge to rule in Jerrell's favor on July 15 and a motion to dismiss Blankenship's motion to dismiss the judge and the commissioners as individual defendants on Aug. 1.
Newberry said the county's insurance company footed the bill for Blankenship's legal services in place of County Attorney Mike Murphy's office at no cost to the taxpayers.
Wicker has said Jerrell paid for his services through excess fees from the clerk's office, which are taxpayer funded.
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