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Clerk’s office debuts PropertyCheck program to help guard against fraud

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The Hardin County Clerk’s Office has announced the implementation of Cott Systems’ PropertyCheck, a new software that helps combat property and mortgage fraud through an alert system.

“It costs you nothing to sign up, and if you go to our website you can sign up for PropertyCheck, and you’ll get a notice any time a document is filed in your name,” said Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith. 

He says implementing the PropertyCheck system was an important goal for his office.

“From the time I was elected, before I was even sworn in, I had a lot of people hitting me up on what they call property fraud, property theft, people filing false documents in their names and whatnot, and a lot of fear,” Smith said. “This actually is a real crime, and it’s a growing crime in other states. We’ve not seen it a lot here, but we want to get in front of it rather than behind it.”

Residents activate a PropertyCheck account, and the software runs in the background on all of the other clerk’s office record management software to identify when a user’s name is used. Residents can opt in to be alerted via email or text when their name shows up.

Smith said registering to protect yourself and your family is an easy process.

“We encourage you to use any variation of your name,” Smith said. “You go on and you create an account. If you’ve ever created a social media account, an Amazon account, this account is easier to create than those, and you can put your name, your spouse’s name, your children’s name all in your account.”

Find more information and a link to register on the Hardin County Clerk’s Office’s website.

Bill Hardin County Animal Shelter says will support puppy mills advances out of committee

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A bill that area officials say would undo local efforts to combat puppy mills advanced out of the Kentucky Senate’s Agriculture Committee Tuesday.

State Bill 157 would permit retail pet stores to sell dogs or cats that were obtained from animal shelters and qualified breeders, which was defined in the bill as “a large-scale breeding kennel that has no direct violations indicated by United States Department of Agriculture inspection reports in the last two years or a hobby breeder.”

Elizabethtown City Council Member Julia Springsteen was among those that spoke against the bill. She and members of the Louisville Metro Council expressed concerns with the bill invalidating ordinances passed on the local level and hindering local efforts.

“E-town’s ordinance allows retail stores to partner with our county shelter and nonprofits to facilitate the adoption of animals, and also allows the county shelter and nonprofits to hold adoption events in certain places,” Springsteen said. “The only way to end puppy mills is to cut off the demand, and that is what we’ve attempted to do in Elizabethtown.”

18th District Senator Robin Webb voted in favor of advancing the bill. She said the rhetoric against the bill is a product of what she called propaganda from animal rights groups, and said bans hurt breeders of work and police dogs doing their business the right way.

“These bans do nothing but to drive it underground, to shield bad breeders, and to create foreign black markets, internet sales, and other things like that,” Webb said.

10th District Senator Matt Deneen voted against advancing the bill, stating that the bill needs some revisions.

“I do believe that there is a need for statewide governance in this area, but at this time I don’t believe the bill adds the framework that is necessary for the enforcement of the bill, and I look forward to working with the chairman on maybe establishing some of those frameworks to ensure that this does away with those puppy mills and kitten mills,” Deneen said.

The bill will now go before the full Kentucky Senate.

Radcliff council considering recovery residence ordinance

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The Radcliff City Council met for a work session Monday.

The council discussed an ordinance that would designate engineering firm QK4 as the city’s local administrator for flood damage prevention. The annual floodplain report helps reduce city insurance premiums, and Mayor JJ Duvall said it makes sense for QK4 to take over management as they are already providing engineering work for the city.

Duvall also discussed the city of Elizabethtown’s recently approved Recovery Residence Certification Ordinance, and said the city is working with other communities and Hardin County on preparing to draft similar legislation. Duvall said the city has been in contact with E-Town officials.

“Mr. Pike and I have talked several times, Ashley Russo has reached out to their folks,” Duvall said. “We have, as far as I know, three or four that we’ve identified that we know is here, so it’s a lot less, but we are being very cautious and monitoring when their rules get in place that fluctuations don’t happen everywhere else in the county.”

The Hardin County Fiscal Court will hold the first reading of a county ordinance regarding recovery residences at their meeting Tuesday.

The council met for a special called meeting prior to the work session in order to go into closed session to discuss the acquisition or sale of property and economic development. No other action was taken during that meeting.

The Radcliff City Council will next meet February 20.

Area officials urge residents to voice opposition to ‘puppy mill bill’

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Local officials are asking area residents to contact their legislators in response to a bill they say would undo local efforts to stop puppy mills.

State Bill 157 is due to be discussed by the Kentucky State Senate’s Agriculture Committee Tuesday, and in a post on their Facebook page the Hardin County Animal Shelter said the bill “would force communities to allow the sale of puppy mill puppies and kitten mill kittens in pet stores.” The animal shelter also says the bill would prevent the enforcement of previously approved ordinances in Elizabethtown and Radcliff that ban such sales.

Elizabethtown City Council Member Julia Springsteen said during Monday’s city council meeting that she would be going to Frankfort to speak against the bill. She said there’s still time for residents to voice their opposition.

“If you have a minute (Tuesday) to call your state senator, please tell them you oppose SB 157,” Springsteen said. “It’s about preemption of our ordinance. It’s about consumer protection, and it’s also about the humane treatment of animals, and we do not want that bill to pass.”

A request for comment from the bill’s sponsor Jason Howell was made to the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission but has not yet been answered.