Frankfort mayor files lawsuit to reverse city ethics board finding against him
Frankfort Mayor Layne Wilkerson filed suit last week appealing a decision by the city’s ethics board, asking a judge to reverse a finding made against him.
The City of Frankfort Ethics Board determined, in response to a complaint filed by a former member of city commission and electoral opponent of Wilkerson’s in 2024, that the mayor knowingly accepted a gift from a developer who invited him and other community leaders to tour properties in the Denver, Colorado, area.
Though airfare was reimbursed by the city, meals and lodging for the trip were not, the board wrote in its determination. That amounted to a violation of the city ethics code’s prohibition on accepting gifts over $50 from parties that may seek to influence the city, according to the board.
Wilkerson alleges that the City of Frankfort Ethics Board violated his due process rights and improperly concluded that the city-sanctioned trip, which took place mid-2022, was a “gift.”
“Without evidence, the board’s determination inappropriately turns an administrative error by city staff unknown to the mayor into a knowing acceptance of a gift,” the lawsuit states.
The suit claims that Wilkerson believed that the entire cost of the trip would be reimbursed by the city and handled by city staff. The ethics board wrote in its determination that only airfare to Corporex, the developer, was reimbursed.
“It is clear the total value of (the accommodations) was more than $50. It is also clear that Corporex provided these accommodations because it was exploring the possibility of doing business with the city,” the board wrote in its determination.
Wilkerson adds in the suit that the complainant, former city commission member Katrisha Waldridge, was politically motivated and her complaint didn’t meet the one-year statute of limitations.
“The politically motivated, factually inaccurate, and legally deficient allegations [were] lodged by his failed political opponent,” the lawsuit says.
Wilkerson has served as mayor of Frankfort since winning election in 2020. In Nov. 2024, he defeated Waldridge by 24 percentage points.
Waldridge filed the complaint Dec. 30, 2024, more than a month after the election took place. Wilkerson’s suit claims that Waldridge has “publicly stated” she intends to run for office again.
Waldridge did not respond to a Herald-Leader request for comment as of Friday afternoon.
The lawsuit was filed May 2 in Franklin Circuit Court. The matter has been assigned to Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate.
In a statement to the Herald-Leader Friday, Wilkerson said he’s confident the board’s finding will be reversed.
“I look forward to presenting my case to the circuit court and am confident that the board’s findings based on the politically motivated complaint will be proven erroneous,” Wilkerson wrote. “This was a city-funded, city-approved economic development trip.”
A key aspect of the board’s determination is that only the flight was reimbursed, not the rest of the related expenses during the overnight trip. Wilkerson emphasizes throughout his suit that he was not involved in the reimbursement process and he believed the full cost of the trip would be reimbursed.
Corporex, a Northern Kentucky-based company, is one of the most prominent in the state, dominating much of the Covington skyline and doing business throughout the country; the Denver area is a hotspot.
According to Wilkerson’s suit, a representative from the company had approached the city about developing a potential hotel and conference center downtown on city-owned land at the corner of Wilkinson Street and Broadway, near the Capital Plaza Hotel.
The city manager — Frankfort runs on a city manager-led form of government — approved of the expense as well as city attorney. The suit says that the trip included tours of two hotel sites, a flight, a hotel stay and three meals.
Wilkerson also took umbrage with the board’s process.
He says the board did not inform him that it could issue a written reprimand without providing him a full hearing, potentially in violation of his due process rights.
Wilkerson’s lawsuit also points out that Corporex did not ultimately submit a proposal on the project in response to a request for proposals put out by the city in November 2023. The city did not award any contract for development of the property during that process and has not yet awarded a contract following a second request for proposals process.
The city ethics board did not, per Waldridge’s suggestion in her complaint, agree that Wilkerson received “unwarranted privilege” in going on the trip.
It did, however, agree with Waldridge that the mayor violated the ethics code in knowingly accepting a personal gift in excess of $50.
Wilkerson’s attorney in the matter is Mitchel Denham, a prominent Louisville attorney with close ties to Gov. Andy Beshear.
Denham has served on high-profile boards during the Beshear administration and has helped lead efforts like the governor’s inaugural ball as well as the nonprofit tasked with distributing Kentucky Derby tickets made available to the governor each year.
