Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders announced sweeping changes to the Campbell County prosecutor's office he took over Sept. 30.
The reforms include a round-the-clock phone line for police, mandatory meetings with local law enforcement and the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force, and the office's first website. Sanders laid out the plans in an open letter published Tuesday, Oct. 6, in LINK nky.
Attorney General Russell Coleman designated Sanders to lead it after the previous commonwealth's attorney, Michael Zimmerman, departed Sept. 30, as LINK nky reported Oct. 1.
Sanders, who prosecutes felony cases for Fort Mitchell, Edgewood, Villa Hills and other Kenton County communities, wrote that his top priority is improving communication between Campbell County's felony prosecutors and local police. The specific changes he outlined:
- A 24/7 on-call "Felony Hotline" so Campbell County officers can reach a prosecutor at any hour
- Mandatory attendance at monthly police chiefs' meetings, a practice already standard in Kenton County
- Weekly briefings with the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force, the multi-county narcotics task force serving Campbell, Kenton and Boone counties
- Written prosecution policies and a new employee manual for all staff
- An office website, now in development
The office has never had a website.
Under Kentucky law, the governor appoints a replacement when a commonwealth's attorney leaves mid-term but faces no deadline to act. Coleman designated Sanders to serve temporarily, according to the attorney general's office.
Sanders wrote that he intends to improve the office as much as possible, whether his tenure lasts "a week, a month, or a year." He accepted the dual role without additional pay.
Sanders pledged his Kenton County caseload would not shrink. He wrote that he still personally prosecutes cases and goes to trial regularly.
No timeline has been set for the governor to appoint a permanent Campbell County commonwealth's attorney.
