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Kentucky Attorney General says DCI will audit 12 counties after more than 700 election hotline calls
Summary
The Kentucky Attorney General announced a random selection of 12 counties for Department of Criminal Investigations reviews after his office received more than 700 election-integrity hotline calls, saying detectives will interview clerks, election officials and voters and present findings to grand juries.
The Kentucky Attorney General announced at a press event in the John Marshall Harlan Conference Room that his office will randomly select 12 counties for inquiries by the Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI) after its election-integrity hotline received more than 700 calls from Kentuckians, including nearly 350 on election day.
"Our hotline received more than 700 calls from Kentuckians," the Attorney General said, adding that DCI has opened multiple investigations and that those investigations will be presented to grand juries when appropriate. "In accordance with the statute, we'll randomly select 12 counties."
He described the audits as comprehensive. "In these counties, DCI will interview the county clerks, the election officials, and voters themselves. Detectives will review records and generally make sure everything went smoothly," he said, characterizing the work as a professional, independent and fair inquiry.
The Attorney General read the list of counties drawn, naming Jefferson County and Trigg County among the group, and said Jefferson County warrants particular attention because the office received a higher volume of complaints from that jurisdiction. "On election day, our election fraud hotline received more than a 150 complaints" from Jefferson County, he said.
Asked about timing, the Attorney General pointed to the primary-audit process as precedent: of the 12 counties drawn after the primary, 10 inquiries had been completed and presented to grand juries with no negative findings; two more presentations were imminent. He said the office hopes to have the current set of investigations completed in early 2025, while noting holidays and the labor-intensive nature of grand-jury presentation can extend the timeline.
The Attorney General emphasized collaboration with local officials. He said he had spoken with Jefferson County's circuit court clerk and expects the county to cooperate. He framed the effort as intended to uphold public confidence: "At the end of this professional, independent, and fair inquiry, it's our hope that our confidence in our elections remains high amongst our fellow Kentuckians."
