After around three hours of being in closed session, the Hopkinsville Board of Ethics decided to take no legal action regarding two complaints they received and instead approved sending letters of reprimand to the parties at fault at their Wednesday meeting.
Beyond the Ethics Board being in attendance, Hopkinsville Mayor J.R. Knight, Hopkinsville Ward 10 Council Member Steve Keel, Hopkinsville Solid Waste (HSW) General Manager Richard Hopper, HSW Administration Manager Jenny Delawson and John Schmitt were also at the meeting with legal representations.
During the closed session the board heard from the complainants and the defendants and then went into deliberations regarding what action should be taken.
When the meeting returned to open session, Board Chair Susan Fernandez announced that regarding Complaint 2024-01 they found minimum violations of two city ethics codes. Fernandez said code 36.16 regarding conflicts of interests in contracts and code 36.29 regarding complicity with or knowledge of others’ offenses were violated.
The findings will result in defendants, J.K. and J.S. receiving letters of reprimand.
Fernandez then shared that Complaint 2024-02 was terminated due to a lack of factual basis.