WQXE News

All are invited to attend Tuesday at 9 a.m. as the Hardin County Clerk’s Office cuts the ribbon on their Radcliff office, located at 101 West Lincoln Trail Boulevard.

“We’re excited to finally cut the ribbon on this,” said Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith. “I want to thank Nolin RECC for being a great partner in this. I want to thank our community leaders who’ve been very, very supportive of this effort. The public’s invited to the ribbon cutting, but most importantly, we want the public to come out and use the services that are available.”

The Radcliff office will be able to process voter registrations and vehicle registrations.

“We are still having some issues with KAVIS, the statewide computer system that county clerks were issued by the state transportation cabinet, so there may be a few hiccups,” Smith said. “We ask for the public’s continued patience, but this is going to be an office that’s going to provide the services that people were used to when it was open.”

Returning operations to Radcliff was something Smith talked about during his campaign, but he says getting the office up and running was more about responsibility to residents in the northern half of the county.

“Yes, this was a campaign promise,” Smith said. “Yes, I’m thrilled we’re able to get to the point where we can open this office, but this is about the people. This isn’t about a promise or a policy or anything like that, but for me, this is about taking care of all of Hardin County, which is what I promised.”

The clerk’s office’s Radcliff location will be open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The motion to dismiss filed by the attorney for Crystal Rogers investigation suspect Steven Lawson has been denied.

Lawson faces charges of Conspiracy to Commit Murder and Tampering with Physical Evidence, but he claimed he was promised immunity in exchange for his cooperation with the investigation, so therefore his charges should be dismissed.

Nelson Circuit Court Judge Charles Simms III denied that motion in an order filed Wednesday.

In the order, Judge Simms says a written immunity agreement was never executed, and while Lawson’s defense provided transcripts of discussions of an immunity agreement, the judge said it was clear that such an agreement was contingent on Lawson being completely truthful, which the judge said the prosecution showed was not the case. The judge also said Lawson’s defense never called any witnesses during a hearing reviewing the immunity claim, instead relying entirely on the transcripts.

In the motion to dismiss, the defense had also requested that should the motion be denied the court then suppress Lawson’s statements to police and his grand jury testimony. While the grand jury testimony request was denied, Judge Simms said Lawson does have the right to suppress his interviews with police. The court will discuss whether Lawson uses the interviews or not in a hearing set for August 8.

Brooks Houck is due back in court Monday as the prosecution will argue to consolidate Houck, Lawson, and Joseph Lawson’s cases into one, which Houck’s defense has filed an objection against.

The number of new voter registrations in Kentucky in June outpaced the number of voters removed from the voting rolls.

The Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office says Kentucky added 9,693 new voter registrations and removed 4,362 voters from the rolls in the month of June.

Of the voters removed from the rolls, 3,030 were for deceased voters, 603 were for convicted felons, and 554 moved to another state.

The Secretary of State’s office says Republican registration increased by 4,947 voters in June, and independent or other registrations increased by 1,502 voters, while Democratic registrations decreased by 1,717 voters. Republican registrations currently make up about 46 percent of the electorate while Democratic registrations make up about 43 percent, with independent or other making up about 10 percent.

Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith says getting registered is a simple process.

“Registering to vote has never been easier,” Smith said. “The quickest and easiest way for most. folks would be to visit govote.ky.gov. They can do that on the computer or their phone and they can register to vote that way. They can also call or visit their county clerk’s office. The deadline to register to vote and participate in the November election is October 7, so don’t wait until the deadline. Go ahead and get it done early.”

Visit the Kentucky Secretary of State’s website for more information on voter registration statistics.