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Taxpayers footing the bill for former Sheriff’s defense attorney
Posted On 19 Jan 2011
Taxpayers are footing at least some of the bill for lawyers who are defending former Whitley County Sheriff Lawrence Hodge against 21 felony charges of public corruption.
According to documents obtained by the News Journal, the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACO) has agreed to provide legal defense for Hodge who is accused of bilking the county for about $350,000 and failing to handle evidence in criminal cases properly, including charges that he sold seized firearms for his own gain.
The decision to pay for Hodge’s legal representation was made last November. KACO is a non-profit organization that provides a range of services and lobbying power to all of Kentucky’s 120 counties.
Whitley County is one of 112 Kentucky counties that pays premiums to KACO’s "All Lines Fund" – an insurance pool that covers participating counties for things like civil liability claims. Lesser known is the fact that the All Lines Fund also provides public officials accused of crimes with a lawyer to defend them of those crimes as well.
"It’s part of the policy that nearly all the counties in Kentucky have. Whitley County has participated in it for years," said Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr. Tuesday.
Money for All Lines Fund coverage is paid from the county’s General Fund, White said. He did not know how much the county paid to KACO annually for the coverage and a review of the county’s latest budget does not show a specific line item for the premium. Whitley County Treasurer Jeff Gray said it would take some time to determine the amount paid and that the figure could not be determined by press time Tuesday. He added that premiums paid by the county for the insurance should not raise in the very near future since they are locked in for a five-year period.
White said that, contractually, many of the county’s elected officials qualify for legal services from KACO if they are accused of a crime, and defended the policy as prudent.
"In our system, there’s a presumption there that you are innocent until proven guilty," White said. "These things happened while he was performing the duties of his elected office."
But Jim Waters, Vice President of Policy and Communications for the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a free-market think tank and government watchdog organization based in Bowling Green, criticizes the move as unfair to taxpayers.
"People in the private sector have to pay for their own defense if they are accused of a crime. Why should this be any different?," Waters said. "He should not be able to use tax dollars to hire a high-powered attorney and get the best at taxpayer expense."
He added that most people privately employed don’t earn as much as a Kentucky Sheriff. Hodge’s salary his last year in office was $86,977.
White said coverage for legal expenses for criminal defense through KACO is capped at $100,000. According to a document obtained from the KACO Claims Service Unit, London attorney Jason Williams has been retained to defend Hodge.
During his last court appearance, Hodge was also represented by London attorneys Gary Crabtree and Tom Jenson.
The county just recently tapped KACO’s All Lines Fund for help defending against a police brutality lawsuit that resulted in a $6.2 million judgment. Post verdict negotiations between the county and attorneys for the plaintiff in the case resulted in a settlement for less, but officials won’t release the final cost. White said KACO helped pay for the cost of legal representation for the county in that case, but would not divulge how much was paid to the county’s attorney.
"I’m under federal court order on that so I am not at liberty to give any details."
KACO is almost entirely funded through dues and premiums paid to it by Kentucky’s county governments. Individual insurance funds, like the All Lines Fund, are administered by KACO employees and overseen by separate boards made up of elected officials.
Fourteen years ago, the All Lines Fund nearly collapsed under the weight of a $10 million deficit. It was forced to borrow money and assess counties an extra $5 million to become solvent again.
According to minutes from the last KACO Board of Directors Meeting, held Sept. 29, 2010, the All Lines Fund received over $23 million in premium from counties and processed about 300 claims from counties in July and August of last year totaling $2,459,619. The Board of Directors for the All Lines Fund is set to meet today.
KACO was harshly criticized by Kentucky State Auditor Crit Luallen last year following a series of articles by the Lexington Herald-Leader that chronicled wasteful and questionable spending by KACO staff. Luallen specifically blasted criminal defense coverage from the All Lines Fund as a misuse of taxpayer dollars.
Waters contends KACO is a "corrupt, wasteful and unnecessary organization," and that counties could find better options for their needs if they wanted.
"The insurance the counties need they can get in the private sector. We don’t have to have a KACO," Waters said.
He added that the insurance could also be modified to drop criminal defense expense coverage or to have a loser-pays type system if a public official is convicted.
White said the liability insurance purchased through KACO couldn’t be acquired piecemeal, as far as he was aware.
"I’ve never heard of anybody negotiating it that way," White said.
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everyone knows he was just following the footsteps of all our former sheriffs Whitley county has always had a problem with corruption within its political ranks, why not let him have a public pretender then he will have the same representation that every other citizen is stuck with when they cant afford to get the “good” lawyers and i use that term very lightly. cause everyone knows that if he got Jane Butcher or another lawyer that can line the judges pockets with some cash he would walk with a slap on the wrist!!! point in case Brad Neighbert!! but i am glad to see that the feds are cleaning that place up some and i certainly hope that Colan will do a better job, he is a good, honest, hard working man!! he has high respect in my corner!!!
Jean Valjean, You must be a friend of Sheriff Hodge’s! If he is convicted, then he should have to pay the lawyer’s fee. If I made $87,000 last year I bet I wouldn’t get a free lawyer!!
he should have to pay it back if he loses
I can understand having insurance coverage for civil lawsuits. Public officials who are just doing their jobs should not be bankrupted by people who are lawsuit happy. But when it comes to criminal activity I think they should be treated like the average person. Mr. Hodge made plenty of money to defend himself from these charges. He doesn’t need to dip into the taxpayer pocket again.
What some people cant see or dont want to people to see THERE SEEMS TO BE A LOT OF DIFFERENCE IN MOST PUBLIC DEFENDERS (who do little and the ones Hodge has got. Bet pay is a lot more !Double talk and being good with words seems to cover a lot of lies for a while.Then the day comes ,its shouted from the roof tops.
What some people cant see or dont wanttne people to see THERE SEEMS TO BE A LOT OF DIFFERENCE IN MOST PUBLIC DEFENDERS (who do little and the ones Hodge has got. Bet pay is a lot more !Double talk and being good with words seems to cover a lot of lies for a while.Then the day comes ,its shouted from the roof tops.
Let Hodge sell some of the property he obtained with the money he “stole” while he was Sheriff. He used some of the property for his bond. Am i the only one that see’s something wrong with this picture?????????
Ummmm. He should not need a public defender making that kind of money. As a taxpayer I am outraged by this.
Who do you think pays for your Public Defender? Duh Tax Payers, I bet if you add all that money up it woul pass What Kaco is paying
Tom Jenson isnt he londons state rep, another example of why this country is broke how many times do they get paid?and at what prices to do the lawyer thing? Another example of how we the people are being took advantage of and its all legal
I think all of the counties should stop paying KACO’s dues and let that organization become obsolete. If a city official is found to be at fault I agree that they should have to pay the money back. That shouldn’t even be an issue because city officials should have to get their own lawyer just like everyone else – shouldn’t the city attorney be the one to help them? I think the taxpayers here in Kentucky pay way too many taxes ad valiorum tax is stupid and should be changed. Taxpayers get taxed for everything -double tax for restaurants-occupational tax-tax tax tax Kentucky counties need to have a balanced budget and not be allowed to come up with a new tax every time they need more money because of their wasteful spending. habits. They should be held accountable for a set amount of money for the budget and balance the books accordingly. Wasteful spending needs to stop. It’s good to see that Corbin has finally put money to get downtown Corbin to look appealing take a look at Barbourville especially at Christmas -it’s like a scene from an old movie and very beautiful. They use their money to put back into the city evidently.
How do they not know how much they are paying every year for KACo dues??? Is our county’s finances so bad that we don’t even know how much our bills are?
He should have to pay for his own lawyers. This is a crock of sh!t!
Have you ever been accused of a crime that you honestly didn’t comitt? Or been accused of violating someones civil rights and you honestly didn’t do it? Until you walk in the shoes of a civil servant that has been in the defense chair charged with these types of offenses, you really don’t know what you’re talking about. In a federal civil rights case, the plaintiff hires a lawyer who knows if they win and convince the jury that the plaintiff is a victim of police brutality, then the pay off is big. And when a Sheriff is in the hot seat for public corruption he is entitled to a competent defense attorney. KACO pays these attorney’s 145 per hour and there is a 100k cap on the cost of the trial. The Sheriff would be better off taking a plea or asking for a change of venue, and he still has the federal grand jury lurking in the shadows just waiting to indict him. He will probably serve time at least 10 years or so. But these are non violent crimes and he could be out after serving 85% of his sentence, and if he gets 10 years that wont be long. KACO is paid a premium to defend any elected/non elected employee, and they are the ones that pay the lawyer, not the county. No matter how much anyone complains about KACO, they are going away anytime soon. But the company execs may go to jail for corruption and misuse of funds. Good Luck Mr. Hodge.
this is a widespread issue … what we must understand is that KaCO is made up of many former county officials, people with friends still in county government and interests in their home counties … people in power take care of people in power. it’s a tale as old as time.
I have said the same thing that Mr. Waters stated. The tax payers should not be responsible for paying these fees, and you are 100% right Mr. Waters!! It is unfair to the tax payers!!!
I just don’t agree with their system!!!!!
unbelievable. just unbelievable.