Fayette County attorney resigning, new prosecutor will take office at end of month
Fayette County will have a new county attorney at the beginning of October.
Angela Evans, 46, will be officially sworn in as Fayette County attorney on Friday, Sept. 30, according to a news release. She is the first Black county attorney elected in Lexington. Current Fayette County Attorney Larry Roberts, who has held the position for over 16 years, will step down from the office and retire at that time.
Evans beat out Roberts by a large margin in the 2022 May Primary with polls reporting that Evans won by more than 40 percentage points. Because there were no Republicans in the primary race, Evans was not facing any opponents in the upcoming general election.
At that time of the election, Evans said she appreciated Roberts’ efforts to help be a part of the transition team. On Wednesday, she thanked him for his help throughout the transition which began about a month ago.
“I want to thank Larry Roberts for his decade and a half of public service to the people of Lexington, and for his assistance in making the transition to a new county attorney as smooth as possible. Now, I am very excited to take over this position and get to work for Fayette County,” Evans said in a news release.
Evans’ early move into the office will be similar to Roberts’ early move into the position when he was first elected in 2006. He said he was elected in the May 2006 primary, and began working in the position in August 2006.
“I made that same offer to (Evans) and the reason I did that is not to get out of working – I love this place – but we have six openings in our office for prosecutors which need to be filled,” Roberts told the Herald-Leader. “The bar exam results (are) in October and I don’t want to wait and fill those spots in October without her being involved in that, because they will be working for her. She should choose.”
On the evening of the election, Evans said being the first Black county attorney is “one more barrier, a ceiling, that’s been cracked.”
She ran on a platform of reducing recidivism, and promoting transparency and equity.
A transition team has been appointed to evaluate the current office and to make recommendations moving forward. The team will be co-chaired by former Kentucky General Assembly member and attorney Sannie Overly.
Also on the team is Rev. Dr. Anthony Everett, who is an ordained elder of the United Methodist Church and the executive director of Mission Behind Bars and Beyond, a non-profit corporation that seeks to reduce the rate of recidivism among returning citizens by working directly with individuals released from Kentucky correctional facilities.
Evans said more information about her swearing-in will be released at a later date.
Roberts’ resignation and retirement correlates with current Fayette Commonwealth Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn, who will retire on Sept. 30. She announced her retirement on Sept. 2 after serving in the position since 2016.
Red Corn has requested the governor appoint Kimberly Henderson Baird, the first assistant of the 22nd Judicial Circuit, to fill her vacancy.
If appointed, Baird would become the first Black woman to serve as the Fayette commonwealth attorney.
Staff writers Valarie Honeycutt Spears and Beth Musgrave contributed to this story.
This story was originally published September 14, 2022 at 1:25 PM.
