FELONS ON BALLOTS IN FOUR EASTERN KY. JUDGE, SHERIFF RACES

WEST LIBERTY - At least four former Eastern Kentucky sheriffs removed from
office on criminal charges are running for office again in the May primary.

Political scientists say the fact that so many disgraced officeholders
still feel they are electable raises questions about politics, pardons and
even voters in rural Kentucky.

"Obviously, nothing like this would fly in Lexington," said University of
Kentucky professor Bradley Canon. "It might in Chicago, which is noted for
its corruption, but ... Fayette County is too middle class to elect people
like that."

Roger Benton, 55, a former three-term Morgan County sheriff convicted in
federal court in 1987 of accepting $10,000 to protect drug deals, has
always maintained his innocence and says he just wants voters to give him a
second chance.

Three other former lawmen with criminal records and a governor's pardon
apparently share his hope:

. Paul L. Browning Jr., 56, a former Harlan County sheriff convicted in
state court in 1982 of plotting to kill two county officials, says he's
seeking his old job again because he has some "unfinished business" and is
asking voters to give him another chance.

"One more time," he said.

. Douglas Brandenburg, 54, served four terms as Lee County judge-executive
before being ousted by voters in 1989. He was in a second term as sheriff
in 1994 when he pleaded guilty to federal charges of obstructing justice.
He is running for judge-executive on his record in that office, not as
sheriff, Brandenburg said.

"I never had any trouble as county judge," he said.

. Ray Clemons, 53, a former Breathitt County sheriff who was sentenced to a
year in prison in 1997 for failing to report drug activity in his own
family, could not be reached for comment. But his wife said he is running
for sheriff again because of public demand.

"He was pardoned by Gov. Paul Patton three months ago, and he has a right
to run again," said Geneva Clemons. "I think he wants his job back because
he earned it and they took it from him."

Are these bad cops gone good?

Or are they -- as some suggest -- symptoms of long-standing political
problems in some parts of Kentucky?

In rural Kentucky, said Paul Blanchard, a political-science professor at
Eastern Kentucky University, tainted candidates appear viable because
political support is based less on issues and job performance than on
"personal qualities," such as kinship, friendship and favors.

If the candidates are attempting to redeem themselves, Blanchard said,
"just the process of campaigning among their supporters is probably
reaffirming for them, although that's probably not a word any one of them
would use."

The presence of convicted felons on the ballot, however, casts shadows over
the whole election process, including the courthouse offices they are
seeking, some experts said.

"A lot of these positions are not particularly challenging jobs,
intellectually," Blanchard said, "so they may attract candidates who have
difficulty just finding a job anywhere else."

Lindsey Back, a history professor at Morehead State University and a
Letcher County native, said the issue made him apprehensive about the
ability of some voters to make good judgments in elections.

Back also said many political observers are offended by the ease with which
public officials who commit serious crimes appear able to get back into
politics.

Perhaps governors should be held more accountable for pardons that free
felons to run for office, Back said, but he has noticed little outrage
among voters.

"The public has said very little," he said. "Mostly, we seem to just fluff
it off and let it go."

Candidates With A History

For Benton, this year's race is his second in Morgan County since his
conviction 15 years ago. He received 1,200 votes in the sheriff's race four
years ago when he was defeated by incumbent Bill Frank Lacy by a 3-to-1 margin

This time, Lacy is attempting to succeed Judge-Executive Sid Stewart, who
is retiring, so Benton and his three opponents in the Democratic primary
are taking his candidacy seriously.

"I feel like if the public elects me, it will prove they feel I'm not
guilty, too," said Benton, who was pardoned by former Gov. Brereton Jones
in 1994.

"Even if I was guilty, it would mean they feel like I've paid my debt to
society and they're giving me a second chance," Benton said.

Browning served three years of a 10-year sentence before being paroled in
1986. While working in Ohio, he was pardoned by Jones in 1995 and moved
back to Harlan County in 1998.

Browning bought a home in Cumberland beside Harlan Circuit Judge Ron
Johnson, who had prosecuted the former sheriff.

Law-enforcement officers are exempt from a federal law that bans even
pardoned convicted felons from possessing firearms, but Johnson said he
does not know why a felon would believe he could get elected sheriff.

"If you were going to be generous and give them the best perception, you
could say they're trying to redeem themselves," Johnson said. "Others may
be entitled to this perception, but in Mr. Browning's case, I feel it's
hard for a leopard to change his spots."

Browning appears delighted to be back in the public eye -- "I'm giving them
fits up here," he said -- and predicted he would easily defeat incumbent
Sheriff Steve Duff, an ex-state trooper, in the Democratic primary on May 28.

Johnson declined to make any predictions. "It's all in the good Lord's
hands," he said. "I did all I could."

Brandenburg, who confessed in federal court that he advised a drug dealer
to lie to a grand jury, faces former Beattyville Police Chief Danny
Townsend in the Democratic primary for Lee County judge-executive.

Townsend was fired in 1994 after he became a suspect in the theft of
marijuana from a locked cell, but later was exonerated and elected Lee
County jailer.

"Given their history and the fact that Townsend may know stuff, it'll make
it sort of wild," said incumbent Judge-Executive Bub Reese, a Republican,
who hopes Brandenburg doesn't wind up back in the courthouse.

"This county gets run down enough," Reese said. "To have a convicted felon
become a public official again, it would be a black eye for the whole county."

Brandenburg, however, who was pardoned by Patton in 1998, said he has paid
"for whatever I did" as sheriff. "And I feel the people know that."