OUSTED STATE POLICE CHIEF TO RUN FOR SHERIFF

PRESTONSBURG -- The former head of the Kentucky State Police is running for
sheriff of Floyd County in what promises to be a heated campaign, with the
region's drug problem as a key issue.

Gary Rose, fired as state police commissioner in a dispute with Gov. Paul
Patton in August 1999, said he decided to run against incumbent Sheriff
John K. Blackburn in order to fight serious drug problems in the county.

"If that man (Blackburn) was even trying to do his job, I'd have never come
out of retirement," Rose said.

Blackburn, 50, said he's worked hard against drug problems with limited
resources. If Rose wants to make an issue of drug arrests, Rose's dismissal
from the state's top law-enforcement job is also an important issue for
voters, Blackburn said.

"I feel any time you've been fired from a job, especially as state police
commissioner, I don't think that would help you politically," he said.

Rose, however, said his termination shouldn't be an issue in the sheriff's
race.

Rose, 55, had been a state police officer for 28 years before Patton
appointed him commissioner in 1996. Rose has claimed in pending lawsuits he
was improperly fired after he reported alleged waste and mismanagement with
Pat Simpson, a deputy state police commissioner and head of security for
Patton. Rose said Patton and Justice Secretary Robert Stephens ordered him
to withdraw a memo reducing Simpson's rank, then fired him when he stuck to
his guns.

"Obviously, I didn't do anything wrong," Rose said.

Rose said the records show Blackburn has stocked his payroll with at least
seven relatives -- his wife, son, mother-in-law, three cousins and his
stepdaughter's husband.

Blackburn acknowledged he hired his wife and mother-in-law as full-time
office workers and five other relatives part-time.

Rose said he will file a written inquiry with the county ethics commission
at its Feb. 19 meeting seeking an opinion on whether Blackburn is in
violation of a local rule on hiring family members.

Blackburn said his relatives were hired before the current ethics code
became effective.

Rose said that even if Blackburn is within the law, hiring family members
can be bad practice.

"Anybody with any experience in administration realizes it's very difficult
to supervise your family," Rose said. Rose said he won't have family
members on the payroll.

Some local political observers were surprised when Rose, who once headed a
state agency with 1,690 employees, filed for a courthouse office with 20
full-time workers.

But almost no one appeared shocked when Rose aimed a kick at Blackburn, who
was elected sheriff in 1998 after two unsuccessful attempts. The two, both
Democrats, are the only candidates who have filed for the office.

Blackburn suggested Rose retreated to Floyd County after being fired,
though he conceded he didn't know why Rose was dismissed.

"He had sold his home and left Floyd County when he was appointed state
police commissioner," the sheriff said. "If he wanted to help Floyd County,
why didn't he stay here in the first place?"

Rose said that after he came home, people continually asked him to run for
sheriff in order to do something about Floyd County's drug problem.

Floyd Commonwealth's Attorney Brent Turner, who is married to Rose's
cousin, said there were only 12 drug-related indictments in the county in
2000, including five each by Kentucky State Police and the sheriff's
office. None of the five sheriff's office cases involved drug trafficking,
he said.

"You'd think there'd be more arrests, based on talk from people in the
county," Turner said.

Both state police and Blackburn's office made more drug arrests last year,
Turner said, though he could not supply numbers.

Blackburn said his office has a $1 million budget, with paid employees
numbering 20 full-time and 21 part-time. The sheriff's office has many
duties other than law enforcement, Blackburn said, including tax collection.

"I have 12 drug-trafficking cases ready to take before a grand jury," he
said. "I've been in office for three years and I've fought drugs as hard as
I can with the money I've got to fight with."