Mount Vernon mayor indicted for fraud, bribery

State News

December 22, 2009

By Ronnie Ellis

Mount Vernon Mayor Clarice Kirby has been released from jail after she was indicted by a Rockcastle County grand jury for abuse of her public trust, bribery of a public servant, a fraudulent insurance act, and official misconduct.

Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Jeremy Bartley confirmed the five-count indictment by the grand jury.

Kirby was indicted on two counts of abusing her public trust, one for obtaining money or property over $10,000 and one for obtaining money or property under $10,000, both felonies; one count of fraudulent insurance acts, a Class C felony; one count of official misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor; and one count of bribery of a public servant, a felony.

The warrant specifies a cash bond of $35,000 or $70,000 property bond.

Two co-defendants, according to Bartley, one a Mount Vernon city employee and the other a former employee, were arrested and charged Friday. Henry Edward Stewart and Jonathan Nick Parsons were lodged in the Rockcastle Detention Center, Bartley said.

This isn’t the first time Kirby has made news or been involved in controversy. Last year she became embroiled in a dispute with a school official over rock from a wall dismantled to make room for a sidewalk. In another controversy in 2008, several Mount Vernon firefighters walked off their jobs in a dispute with Kirby.

Phone calls to a Mt. Vernon listing for Clarice Kirby went unanswered Friday afternoon and messages left on the voice mail were not returned.

RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.