Kentucky legislator says ethics complaint on ownership of condo is meritless

A Democratic leader in the Kentucky House says an ethics complaint filed against her is meritless and politically motivated, citing a clearance she received from a top ethics official.

Longtime Jessamine County GOP activist Bob Barney filed the complaint with the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission on Friday. Barney alleges state Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson of Lexington improperly benefited from a legislative lobbyist when she co-purchased a Frankfort residential property this summer with lobbyist Sarah Bowling.

State law prohibits legislators from accepting anything of value from a registered lobbyist. Barney’s complaint claims that “by splitting the cost of the property,” Stevenson “received something of ‘value’” from Bowling and that “this is a violation of the law.”

However, Stevenson said that interpretation of Kentucky’s statutes and ethics code — and the nature of the purchase — is off base, citing an existing advisory opinion from the same ethics commission and guidance they received in advance from its executive director.

“This complaint has no merit, period,” Stevenson said in an email. “It’s driven solely by election-year politics, and I have no doubt it will be cleared if not dismissed quickly."

Stevenson shared an email exchange between Bowling and Laura Hendrix, the executive director of the ethics commission, on May 13, in which the lobbyist asks Hendrix if the purchase of the property would run afoul of any ethics rules.

Bowling’s email notes their previous phone conversation, in which she explained Stevenson would split the purchase costs and any future profits equally with her. Hendrix replied that as long as the two properly reported a fair market purchase, it was allowed.

“As I noted on the phone, as long as the purchase is made and rent is assessed at a fair market rate, this would be acceptable under the Ethics Code, as it would not constitute an impermissible ‘thing of value,’” Hendrix wrote.

Hendrix added that Bowling would need to disclose the purchase as a financial transaction on her lobbying disclosure forms submitted to the commission, just as Stevenson would have to report it on her annual financial disclosure form due once per year in February.

A previous advisory opinion of the ethics commission issued in 1994 came to a similar conclusion.

In that opinion, a lobbyist asked the commission if they must report their joint ownership of several pieces of real estate with a state legislator that were expected to net a profit. The commission response made no mention of the co-ownership being prohibited, only stating the lobbyist must report that activity as a financial transaction on their next required filing with the commission.

Stevenson and Bowling jointly purchased the Frankfort condo on July 16 for $130,000, according to a deed attached with Barney’s complaint. The property was sold to them by a company owned by state Rep. Rachel Roberts of Newport, who is also a member of House minority leadership and is not running for reelection.

Robert’s involvement was mentioned by Bowling to Hendrix in their email exchange, but is not included in Barney’s complaint. Bowling indicated Roberts was selling the condo because she is not running for reelection and would not be in Frankfort the following year.

Likely responding to social media posts from anonymous accounts Thursday that highlighted Stevenson’s condo purchase and said it was illegal, Stevenson wrote a Facebook post that night — along with a photo of her, Bowling and Roberts — saying the purchase was legal and given advance clearance by the ethics commission.

“Rachel is sadly leaving Frankfort after this year, but she can always have a place to come back to, because Sarah and I bought her cute condo!” Stevenson wrote, adding “(And before anyone freaks out, OF COURSE Sarah and I talked to ethics to be certain everything was on the up and up!)”

Bowling has not had to file a lobbying report since the July purchase, though the next deadline for a report is coming in a few days on Sept. 16. This report has not yet been filed, according to the commission.

Legislators only have to file one annual financial disclosure report with the ethics commission in February to document various income, property ownership or financial interests they had in the previous year.

Stevenson is the only member of House Democratic leadership to be running for reelection this fall, in what is expected to be a competitive race. House District 88 on the outskirts of Lexington has roughly 1,400 more registered Republicans than Democrats, and Stevenson has won each of her last three races by less than 50 votes.

This also is not Stevenson’s first interaction with the Legislative Ethics Commission this year.

In late July, Stevenson, Roberts and House Minority Leader Derrick Graham filed a complaint against fellow Democratic Rep. Daniel Grossberg of Louisville, making a wide range of allegations, including some involving his interactions with women. The commission voted unanimously this week that the allegations of the complaint “ merit further inquiry .”

Barney also has a history of taking on party leaders — even in his own party. He runs the group Take Over the GOP and has led the effort for local Republican parties to censure Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, which the Jessamine County GOP did in 2022 .

State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.