Hardin County fiscal court adopts 2026 budgets, approves surplus trailer transfer

Hardin County Fiscal Court on Dec. 18, 2025, approved its calendar-year budgets for the county clerk and sheriff and adopted multiple routine financial and personnel actions as part of its consent agenda.

County Clerk Brian Smith opened the meeting with a year-in-review, highlighting voter registration drives at schools, mock elections at local schools and posting nearly five decades of election recordings online. Smith told the court the clerk’s office fees and commissions subtotaled $244,000 as of November and that the clerk’s 2026 budget request remains trimmed versus the 2023 baseline of $2,586,000.

The court then approved the clerk’s 2026 budget and the sheriff’s 2026 budget by roll call. The court also approved resolution 2025‑249, which amends the sheriff’s 2025 budget, and passed the consent agenda after two items were removed for separate consideration.

One removed item, resolution 243, authorized transfer of an old solid‑waste trailer (described by the judge as replaced and in usable condition) to a neighboring county (reported as Meade County) rather than selling it as surplus. A magistrate asked that future surplus transfers include estimated asset valuations and that such items be discussed in committee when feasible; the court voted to approve the transfer.

Other consent‑agenda items noted in the meeting included payroll and claims approvals, a resolution approving the federal equitable sharing program for the sheriff’s office, and a Kentucky ambulance block grant of $10,000 earmarked for EMS equipment.

The court did not take public comment on other matters during the meeting, moved to closed session later to discuss pending litigation and an economic development proposal, and adjourned afterward.

Meeting announcements included committee schedules for January and a number of holiday messages and thanks to longtime local reporter Gina Clear for her service covering the court.