Ky. prosecutor, entangled in Bevin pardon controversy, resigns while facing impeachment
A Kentucky prosecutor facing impeachment related to his involvement in a controversial pardon issued by former Gov. Matt Bevin in 2019 will resign from office.
Christian County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Boling will leave the Western Kentucky county’s top prosecutor role on Feb. 28, according to House Majority Whip Jason Nemes, R-Louisville.
In a report from the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Boling was found to have used false information to seek a pardon from Bevin’s office, which was eventually granted. A letter from Boling helped inform Bevin’s pardon of Dayton Jones, who was convicted of second-degree sodomy and first-degree wanton endangerment for taking part in an attack on an unconscious 15-year-old boy using a sex toy, which required emergency surgery for a perforated bowel.
Nemes, also an attorney with administrative courts experience, filed the resolution to impeach Boling.
The resolution notes that Boling, in a letter to Bevin, “attacked the prosecutorial discretion of the predecessor Commonwealth’s attorney, and questioned the integrity of the former prosecutor, the circuit judge who presided over the case, and the defendant’s attorney.”
According to the resolution, which cites the findings of a Kentucky Bar Association trial commission, Boling also misled a jury, concealed information that he should have divulged to a defense attorney, and engaged in fraud, among other things.
As a result of the findings the trial commission recommended that Boling be suspended from practicing law for five years.
Boling has been the commonwealth’s attorney since 2019 and is serving a six-year term. He was also previously the commonwealth’s attorney for one term in the early 2000s.
The majority whip told the Herald-Leader that he had not heard of any similar plans to resign from the other commonwealth’s attorney who was facing impeachment: Ronnie Goldy. Goldy is the commonwealth’s attorney for Bath, Menifee, Montgomery and Rowan counties. A state hearing officer had concluded Goldy solicited sexually explicit photos and videos from a woman after helping her in court.
This story was originally published January 10, 2023 at 10:47 AM.
