Welcome to the McCracken County Attorney Web Site

McCracken County Attorney's Office
301 South 6th St.  -  Courthouse
Paducah, KY 42003

New Office Hours:

Monday -  8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday - Friday - 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Closed for lunch Friday 12:00p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

County Attorneys Brace for Layoffs From Budget Cut

The budget recently passed by the Kentucky General Assembly will bring about staff cuts and may cause delays in local district courts, according to Brucie Moore, president of the Kentucky County Attorneys Association, Inc., which represents county attorneys across the state.

The budget, which awaits Gov. Steve Beshear’s signature, cuts more than $4 million in funding to county attorneys’ offices across the state over the next two years.

“The budget is a drastic cut that could result in the loss of at least 58 assistant county attorneys, victims’ advocates and support staff,” Moore said. “Because 98 percent of county attorneys’ budgets are devoted entirely to personnel, budget cuts have a catastrophic impact on local county attorneys’ offices.”

Several small county attorneys’ offices are staffed only by the elected official, a part-time assistant and a part-time secretary. 

On average, each of Kentucky’s 120 county attorneys handled nearly 5,800 cases in 2007.  Using those averages, a part-time county attorney is expected to work nearly 16 cases per day, if he or she works all 365 days each year.

Here in McCracken County, the county attorneys’ office employs 5 assistants and 17 secretaries and handles an average of more than 11,000 cases per year.

“County attorneys have been chronically underfunded for years, but recent events have caused this lack of sufficient funding to become more threatening,” Moore said.

Among those events is the increased use of specialty courts and judges. Over the past few years, most counties in Kentucky have seen the addition of family courts and the increased use of drug and truancy courts.

“County attorneys support the creation and use of these new courts,” Moore said. “However, these new courts and judges increase the burden on county attorneys because no additional staff or prosecutors have been added to handle the new cases or extra days in court.”

Moore said the budget reductions for prosecutors will only hurt the state’s economic outlook because Kentucky’s prosecutors generate more than $100 million per year in revenue from fines and court costs.

“With this budget, we have no choice but to lay off prosecutors.  If we do not have a sufficient number of prosecutors, cases cannot be fully prosecuted in a timely manner,” Moore said.  “Therefore, fines and court costs will be reduced. A reduction in revenue is not something our state needs in its current economic situation.”

Military Fraud

Kentuckians have long participated in our country’s celebration of Memorial Day, a time to remember and honor veterans who have died in military service. Although remembering those who sacrificed their lives is certainly important for our county and its citizens, it also is important to show honor and respect to our living veterans, as well as those who are currently in active military service.
Because of the sacrifice involved in military service, our country provides some benefits to both current and former military personnel. Unfortunately, there are people who have not served in the military who try to fraudulently use those benefits.

In this year’s General Assembly, our legislators passed House Bill 110, which has been signed by Gov. Steve Beshear. The bill, which will become law this summer, prohibits people from misrepresenting their current or former military status with the intent to defraud, obtain employment, or be elected or appointed to public office.

For example, once the bill is signed into law this summer, it will prohibit a civilian (with no military history) from pretending to be in the military when seeking employment or other benefits. Although there are laws on the books that address deception and fraud, this bill specifically addresses military misrepresentations and serves as a safety net to punish those who might find a loophole in the theft by deception laws.

The new law would not apply to several situations when it is permissible to represent oneself as a member of the military, even though that actually is not the case. Those situations include:

• Those who are reenacting military history, playing a part in a television or other dramatic production, or patriotic event;
• Museum volunteers or employees who represent members of the military forces as part of their duties;
• Members of the military, who as part of a military assignment, represent a previous war period for ceremonial, recruiting or training purposes;
• People who have a military rank as part of their given names, so long as they do not use the name to defraud another;
• Those who have had honorary military or military-like rank bestowed upon them by public officials, public employees or public agencies;
• Those who have a company name, product or registered trademark that includes a military rank, so long as the name is not used in a fraudulent manner; and
• Those who own, purchase, sell or trade military items, such as medals, ribbons, insignia, etc., as long as they do not claim to have personally earned them unless they are legally entitled to do so.

The key word in the bill is “fraudulent.” There are many legal opportunities for people to dress in military uniforms even if they have never been in the military. However, when someone tries to defraud someone else, that person will be subject to penalties under the law.

Misrepresenting current or former military status that results in the defendant obtaining money or property is considered theft by deception, a class A misdemeanor unless the value of the property or money is $300 or more, in which case it is a class D felony. A class A misdemeanor carries a fine of up to $500 and/or imprisonment of 90 days to 12 months. A class D felony is punishable by imprisonment of one to five years and/or a $10,000 fine.

If the defendant obtains a public benefit by the misrepresentation, he or she will be cited with a violation of the applicable statute that prohibits obtaining that particular benefit.

For other violations involving misrepresentation of current or former military status, the defendant could receive a fine of up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 12 months.

The honor and pride associated with military service should never be associated with fraud and deception, as our laws reflect. This law is just one example of how we can continue to show respect and gratitude to those who serve our country.