New council votes to hire Lexington attorney to investigate city government
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2016 9 p.m. — The newly seated Bardstown City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to move forward with the investigation of the city’s personnel or resources playing a role in the anonymous election-eve document dump believed to have been an attempt to influence the Nov. 8 city council election.
The council authorized Councilman John Kelley Jr. to sign a contract with Lexington attorney Scott A. Crosbie of Mattmiller Crosbie PLLC to conduct the investigation.
City Attorney Tim Butler discusses the council investigation with the council at Tuesday’s meeting.
Kelley told the council that Crosbie’s qualifications and prior experience made him well-qualified to conduct the investigation.
Crosbie served a four-year term as a Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government council member. His prior legal work included service as counsel for the state’s Office of Technology during the criminal investigation of Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s administration. He also has represented multiple government agencies related to various administrative and legal issues, and provided representation and criminal defense on behalf of law enforcement officers employed by county and city governments.
City Attorney Tim Butler told Kelley someone besides a city employee should serve as custodian of the investigation’s records.
“I don’t think it should be [City Clerk Barbie Bryant] because its your all’s investigations and not the city’s.”
Kelley said since he is already serving as the contact person for the investigator, he will also serve as the custodian of the investigation’s records.
PROPOSED INVESTIGATION. In his Dec. 7, 2016, response to Butler’s email regarding the investigation, Crosbie wrote that his first step will be to prepare a preliminary opinion on the alleged actions and if they violated state, federal or local laws.
According to his proposal, Crosbie will follow the preliminary opinion with updates every 30 days, with the goal of sending his findings to the council in 90 days. The council will pay investigators for their work, as well as mileage and other costs.
According to his proposal, Crosbie’s firm will charge $140 an hour for attorneys with more than 10 years experience; $105 an hour for attorneys with less than 10 years experience; $50 per hour for paralegals and UK law clerks; and $125 per hour for outside investigators, which can include retired federal agents to assist.
Those costs are reasonable, given Crosbie’s experience, Kelley told the council. He said Crosbie would alert the council if any unusual expenditures were necessary.
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