NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2025 — Nelson County Sheriff Ramon Pineiroa has asked the Kentucky State Police to investigate a possible forgery incident — at the hands of the office of the Nelson County Judge-Executive Tim Hutchins — in regard to title and licensing of two new Chevrolet Tahoe police cruisers the sheriff’s office purchased late last year.
Pineiroa confirmed that he asked KSP to investigate after the ownership showN on the titles to the two police vehicles was altered. The titles — originally showing ownership by the Nelson County Sheriff’s office — had the ownership crossed out and replaced by “Nelson Fiscal Court.”
In an interview after Tuesday’s Fiscal Court meeting, Nelson County Judge-Executive Tim Hutchins confirmed that he directed a county employee to alter the titles. He explained that sheriff’s office vehicles have always been titled to county government. County government insures the vehicles and pays for maintenance and upkeep, and they are county property.
While the two Tahoes were budgeted in the sheriff’s office budget and properly purchased, the county government has always held title to the vehicles operated by the sheriff’s office, no matter what funds were used for their purchase, Hutchins explained.
Pineiroa said that late last year, Hutchins had been discussing pulling county government’s funding from the sheriff’s office law enforcement team and using it to start a seperate county-funded police force.
In an interview after the meeting, Pineiroa said he was prompted to list the vehicles as sheriff’s office property at the time because Hutchins was considering a plan that would withdraw the county’s existing funding for the sheriff’s office road patrol and use that money to start a county-funded police department.
He said he understood that county government ownership of sheriff’s office vehicles has been standard practice for years — even for the vehicles that are purchased and budgeted by the sheriff’s own budget. However, Pineiroa said he did not take lightly Hutchin’s threats of pulling fiscal court funding — and vehicles — from the sheriff’s office.
“You threaten that you’re going to take vehicles from me and leave me walking? That ain’t gonna happen,” Pineiroa said.
When the titles for the two new Chevy Tahoes were presented to Nelson County Clerk Jeanette Hall Sidebottom, she advised that she could not register the vehicles because the titles were altered. The titles couldn’t be registered without filing of an affidavit that showed the correct ownership for each vehicle. So far, there’s been no discussions about filing an affadavit, and the two Taoes remain unregistered.
Pineiroa said both of the new vehicles are currently at a shop in Harrodsburg for installation of emergency equipment. Both vehicles are insured and equipped with temporary tags.
In an email to the magistrates, Pineiroa had earlier advised the magistrates he had referred the altered titles to the Kentucky State Police for a possible forgery investigation.
After the meeting, Hutchins said he had not been contacted yet by the KSP in regard to the forgery allegation.
Pineiroa said he has yet to be contacted by the judge or county government about why the vehicle titles showed ownership by the sheriff’s office. Until the issue of ownership is settled, both vehicles are unlikely to be licensed and operated by the sheriff’s office.
NEXT UP. Nelson Fiscal Court next meets at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026 at the Nelson County Public Library.
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