Current/Former State Employees Agree To Fines

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...The Executive Branch Ethics Commission has reached settlements with four current and former state employees. Former Kentucky Department of Agriculture Director Danita Fentress-Laird agreed Monday to pay a $1,500 fine after acknowledging she used her position to influence superiors to create an hourly position that she arranged to have herself assigned to. As a political appointee of former Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer, Fentress-Laird was fired by Commissioner James Comer, who took office at the first of the year. The ethics commission also fined former state park business manager Robert Habig $500 for using his position to rent for boats at lower rates on Lake Cumberland. Former conservation officer Bradley Lowe agreed to pay a $2,500 fine for using his position to order drinks at a bar for his teenage daughter. And Grayson County Property Valuation Administrator Roger Tomes agreed to a $1,000 fine for violating nepotism rules.