We hear today from Steve Knebel, who resigned from the Fayette County Board on Tuesday after 12 years on the board and the last 8 years as the County Board Chairman. Knebel says that a family situation was going to lead to his resignation anyway in the very near future. But, after the recent investigation—although he was cleared and was able to fully return to the board—Knebel felt it was the right time to resign. Knebel says he believes he has always tried to do what was right in his time on the board.
Knebel explained the situation that led to the investigation in his statement at the end of Tuesday night’s meeting. To break it down—there were two open positions in the County Clerk’s office. Knebel says he recommended a current county employee for one of those position but County Clerk Vicky Conder chose not to hire that employee—which as Knebel stated, was her right. Knebel says the county board then decided not to fill one of the two positions that were open in the Clerk’s office. Knebel says there was no connection between the board’s decision and with the Clerk not hiring the person he recommended. However, Conder took the matter to States Attorney Joshua Morrison who then brought in a special prosecutor to investigate the matter.
Meanwhile, in a letter to Knebel’s attorney, Special Prosecutor Matt Goetten states, after the conclusion of the investigation “Our Agency will not be filing charges at this time based on the available evidence.” The letter goes on to state “I believe the investigation was thorough and, as such, I doubt further review would be necessary.” The investigation in the matter was conducted by Robert McCall of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department. As he stated, Knebel stepped back from the county board during the investigation and was not on hand for the May or June county board meetings. Meanwhile, being he resigned at the conclusion of the meeting, the County Board will now have to take up appointed a new county board chairman at their August meeting.