Kentucky Democratic state representative on house arrest for 2024 DUI incident
State Rep. Beverly Chester-Burton is serving 10 days of home incarceration for a 2024 incident of driving under the influence.
The Louisville Democrat was sentenced on Oct. 15 to home incarceration, which will conclude Friday, Oct. 24.
The sentencing was related to Chester-Burton’s August 2024 arrest, which occurred after officers responding to an unrelated call witnessed Chester-Burton’s vehicle “went into oncoming lanes and sat there for a minute, forcing an oncoming vehicle to pass around her in the opposite oncoming lane.”
Chester-Burton pleaded guilty via an Alford plea and is required as part of the sentencing to undergo alcohol treatment.
“Ms. Burton took an Alford plea on a DUI with the condition of alcohol treatment. (An) Alford plea allows her to maintain her innocence but acknowledges that the prosecution could win based on her word versus the officer. She does have 10 days on (home incarceration) with work release and out of county release,” Chester-Burton’s attorney, Krsna Tibbs, wrote in a statement to the Herald-Leader.
“She is not serving a jail sentence, and she has no restrictions and will meet all her legislative obligations in Frankfort as normal,” Tibbs added.
Chester-Burton is listed as an inmate, according to Louisville Metro Corrections records.
The work release would allow Chester-Burton, 64, who represents a swath of West Louisville including Shively where she was previously mayor, to continue attending interim committee meetings in Frankfort. She has two scheduled for Tuesday.
In a statement, House Democratic leadership expressed encouragement for Chester-Burton to address issues “that may be impacting her life, her community and her public service.”
“We’ve been made aware of reports involving Rep. Beverly Chester-Burton and a DUI case. Public officials are entrusted with the confidence of the people and must uphold the highest standards of conduct,” House Democratic leadership wrote in a statement. “Impaired driving endangers lives, and we take that responsibility seriously. We are committed to encouraging her to address any personal issues that may be impacting her life, her community and her public service.”
When arrested for the 2024 DUI, Chester-Burton was described in the police report as eventually pulling back into the correct lane, but “stopped in the middle of the road and put the vehicle in park.” When Chester-Burton exited the vehicle, police noted a “strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her persons” as well as her “slurred and rapid speech.”
She told officers that she was coming from Frankfort and said multiple times that people were calling her asking her “what was going on in Shively.” She did not disclose how many alcoholic drinks she’d had and denied requests to take a field sobriety tests.
Police wrote that she claimed she “would beat it like she did the last one.”
Her first DUI arrest occurred in 2020 when she was mayor of Shively; she crashed her vehicle after police said she fell asleep at the wheel in a White Castle parking lot.
During the 2024 stop, police wrote that Chester-Burton “tried getting back in her vehicle a few times,” but was stopped by officers; later she tried to get in her backseat “where she almost fell.”
Police also noted that Chester-Burton wanted a phone to “call the chief.”
During transport to jail, the report states that Chester-Burton offered a “spontaneous utterance” to the officer transporting her: “These guys act like they haven’t ever been to a birthday party.”
Chester-Burton was first elected as state representative in 2022, succeeding former House Democratic leader Joni Jenkins .
