WQXE NEWS

The 2026 Kentucky General Assembly regular session is now in week seven, and among the proposed legislation local officials have their eyes on is House Bill 557, which the Kentucky Association of Counties says aims to rebalance state and county responsibilities for correctional facilities.

Hardin County Jailer Josh Lindblom said during last week’s Hardin County Fiscal Court meeting that the bill “incentives regionalization” on the county level.

“At a county level, not a state level, you as a fiscal court should decide where your money goes to with the taxpayers, correct?” Lindblom said. “Not the state. You see how the driver’s license system went? That’s the same thing that would go with regionalized jails at a state level. County level regionalization is where it’s at just for the fact that you would have a say in where your tax dollars go.”

The bill also reforms county reimbursement for housing state prisoners held on felony charges at county jails.

“This is upon conviction in the bill, not sentencing,” Lindblom said. “We get paid retroactively since day one, so it’d be more than just what the other bill has talked about. Before it was at 60 days, and they were talking about going forward with it. Now it’d go all the way back to day one.”

Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul said counties have been subsidizing jail budgets due to the lower reimbursement rate, which he said is unsustainable for local taxpayer dollars.

“When I took office, we were somewhere around a $2 million or $2.5 million subsidy, which I thought was a lot of money, and in just a few years it’s grown to almost $6 million,” Taul said. “We bring in about $11 million in property tax.”

The bill was introduced in the House Committee on Committees on February 4 and has been assigned to the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee. As of Monday, the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission says the bill has 42 co-sponsers including local representatives Steve Bratcher, Josh Calloway, Peyton Griffee, Samara Heavrin and Nancy Tate.

A year-long investigation into illegal poaching in Hardin and Grayson counties resulted in charges for six individuals.

Allen Sauer, Malachi Delatour, Joshua Stevenson, Bradley Webb, and Madison Whittington of Leitchfield along with Aden Walker of Elizabethtown face a combined 116 criminal charges as a result of the investigation by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources Third District Game Wardens.

“There were numerous complaints received in Hardin County and Grayson County, and those were relayed to Sergeant Thomas Blackwell and Game Warden Steven Nelson,” said KFW Game Warden Tyler Willen. 

Blackwell and Nelson intercepted the group on July 16, 2024.

“They observed out in the field for spotlighting, and observed an individual spotlighting in Hardin County and made a traffic stop, and once the traffic stop was made, there were multiple .22 caliber firearms and spotlighting equipment found inside the vehicle along with open alcoholic beverages containers,” Willen said.

KFW says the suspects at the time claimed to be raccoon hunting, but no open season for the species was in effect at that time. The KFW’s investigation “uncovered a coordinated illegal effort to take wildlife across Hardin and Grayson counties” which resulted in the illegal killing of several hundred animals including deer, turkey, fox, and a domestic pet.

“This was a very in-depth investigation that required multiple game wardens, and I’m very proud of the Third District game wardens and their diligence and dedication to the state,” Willen said.

Suspected poaching activity can be reported to your local game warden by calling 1-800-25-ALERT, texting “KFWLAW” and the message to 847411, or via the “Find My County Contact” page at fw.ky.gov. Reports can also be made to your local Kentucky State Police post.

Boys and Girls Club of Kentuckiana President and CEO Daryle Unseld said it was “a true labor of love” to bring a club site to the city of Radcliff.

“It was the community, led by your great mayor JJ Duvall and the City Council,” Unseld said. “It was the staff of the Boys and Girls Club of Kentuckiana, and there’s a few of our board members that are here too that not only believed in this vision, but really wanted to think about how we can serve more kids more often through the mission of the Boys and Girls Club.”

Unseld joined city officials, board members, and community members for a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the grand opening of the Boys and Girls Club Radcliff Site, located at Stithton Baptist Church. 

The club, which officially opens on February 17, will serve approximately 100 area youth ranging from age six through eighth grade. The club will feature programming focused on academic success, healthy lifestyles, and character and citizenship.

Radcliff Mayor JJ Duvall said the city has been working to develop youth programming for years, and after discussions with Pastor Denver Copeland made a location possible the city then had to deliver financially.

“Louisville’s board, as gracious as they have been, there’s no money coming from our area that’s being put into that area to come down here, and so the City Council and myself worked together along with Daryle (Unseld), Rubin (Nieto), and the whole team to see what it would cost for us to self-fund this,” Duvall said. “Self-funding means the city is going to take on the youth programming.”

Radcliff has committed $165,000 over the next two budget cycles to fund operations while the church provided newly-renovated facilities. Duvall also said Hardin County Schools assisted by making the club a bus stop location.

Find more information on membership and volunteer opportunities at www.bgcky.org.