4th District magistrate arrested Friday for driving under influence

STAFF REPORT

Monday, June 6, 2011, 12 p.m. — Fourth District Magistrate Jeff Lear, 46, was arrested Friday night and charged with first offense of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol. He was booked into the Nelson County Jail at 11:32 p.m., and was released at 9:11 a.m. Saturday morning.

The charge is a misdemeanor.

Lear, the county’s first Republican magistrate, won his seat last November by winning a tight three-way race by 25 votes that included Democrat David Shields and independent J.T. Fulkerson. The three were running for the seat left open when then-Magistrate Tim Hutchins resigned while he was running for judge-executive. Lear was appointed by Gov. Steve Beshear to fill out the rest of Hutchins’ term after he won the November election.

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