Lexington council member to resign in January for new government position
Council member Hannah LeGris, who announced last week she will not be seeking reelection in 2026, announced Friday afternoon that she will be resigning from her position.
LeGris, who has represented Lexington’s 3rd Council District since 2020, will resign effective Jan. 9. She will become the city’s first accessibility and engagement officer, a new position in the chief administrative officer’s office.
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton has 30 days after LeGris’ last day to appoint someone to fill the open council position. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council can block Gorton’s nomination with a 2/3 majority vote.
The council will have 15 days from Gorton’s appointment to make that vote. Otherwise, the appointee will remain in the seat.
LeGris’ new role will “involve coordinating training initiatives, generating more accessibility within our city, and collaborating with our employees and the public, alike, in a role dedicated to improving their experiences,” she said in her announcement.
“Please let me reiterate how much I’ve enjoyed my time serving as your Councilmember and how much I’m looking forward to continued service within LFUCG,” she said.
Chief Administrative Officer Sally Hamilton told the Herald-Leader that LeGris was the right person for the job.
“Our goal is that (this position) can help the employees and the administration work toward a healthy working culture where we share ideas and goals, and we think that Hannah has that background and the personality to be able to accomplish this,” Hamilton said.
LeGris’ resignation is the second time in the past six months a sitting council member has resigned to take a full-time job.
In July, council member Denise Gray, who was elected in 2022, announced she was resigning to take a full-time position with a nonprofit in Milwaukee, Wis.
In August, Gorton appointed Lisa Higgins-Hord, who was previously appointed to serve an unexpired term for the same council seat, to serve the remainder of Gray’s term. Higgins-Hord represents the 6th Council District, which includes neighborhoods along Winchester Road and in the Hamburg area.
During that appointment process, the city had a portal for people to apply. Higgins-Hord was picked from a pool of 15 applicants.
The accessibility and engagement officer position LeGris is filling is a new job for the city but came to be after Lexington’s council stopped just short of abolishing a diversity, equity and inclusion officer position in March. Members of the public urged council at the time to not get rid of the DEI position.
The council was slated to abolish the position in the wake of federal and state attacks against DEI programs.
“No matter what the federal government or the Kentucky legislature does, Lexington and Fayette County should not give in to repressive actions and tyrannical rules,” Debbie Winslow said in the March meeting.
In January , President Donald Trump signed an executive order dismantling all federal DEI offices.
Republican state Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, filed Senate Bill 164 in the 2025 legislative session, which would have prohibited local governments from requiring or incentivizing DEI employee trainings and allocating funding to DEI efforts.
Tichenor’s bill was not passed, although House Bill 4 — a similar bill targeted at colleges and universities rather than local governments — was passed in the same legislative session this year.
The council ultimately decided to keep the role, but tasked Hamilton with reimagining what that position could do.
In a September work session meeting where Hamilton’s office brought council the idea to turn the DEI officer role into a position focused on accessibility, Senior Administrative Officer Hilary Angelucci stressed that the position wouldn’t be DEI under a new name.
“This position is not a continuation of DEI efforts,” Angelucci said. “It is a compliance-aligned position focused on access, professionalism and engagement.”
Arthur Lucas, who was the former DEI officer for the city, was moved to a different government role in February. Hamilton told the Herald-Leader in March that Lucas would still lead diversity programs inside the government in his new role.
Griffin VanMeter, a local entreprenuer, is running for Lexington’s 3rd District Council seat. The primary election for the seat will be held May 19, with the general election Nov. 3.
