RICHMOND — On a chilly January night last winter, Steve Kelly saw several cars intentionally doing snow “doughnuts,” spinning in circles on the slick pavement, in the Hastings parking lot at Richmond Centre.

Kelly drove over to investigate, and he claims one of the cars hit a grass island, nearly hitting his vehicle.

Kelly turned on his blue lights and got out of his vehicle.

He walked up to the stopped car, driven by Abraham Drane, 35, and Drane attempted to drive away, Kelly said. Kelly then opened the car door and turned off the ignition.

“(Drane) punched me in the face,” Kelly said. “... He was ready for war.”

Kelly pulled Drane out of the vehicle and “at that point it was necessary to deploy my Tazer ...” the incident report states. Kelly also doused Drane with pepper spray. Kelly reported that Drane had an unopened pocket knife in his hand.

Kelly is not a Richmond or Berea police officer, and he’s not employed by the Madison County Sheriff’s Department.

Kelly was elected as the constable of District 2 in 2010, and according to the state constitution, he has the same law arresting powers as a county sheriff.

However, Kelly is not required to have any law enforcement training, something that has led to him often being at odds with county officials and the local justice system.

Arrests thrown out

Drane was charged Jan. 14 with aggravated driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, reckless driving, no driver’s license in possession and resisting arrest.

Drane’s attorney, Public Advocate Audrey Woosnam, filed a motion Feb. 28 to suppress the arrest because Kelly activated blue lights during the stop, something state law says each county must approve.

“Madison Fiscal Court has not given him that approval,” Woosnam said.

The arrest, Woosnam argued, was an unconstitutional seizure because the stop was not legal.

On March 5, the case was dismissed with prejudice by Madison District Judge Charles Hardin. The note on the case file states “lack of police training of officer/constable” as the reason for the dismissal.

Drane declined through his attorney to be interviewed about the arrest.

A similar incident occurred April 5, also at Richmond Centre where Kelly’s security company, Community Protection Services, is employed.

Linda Lackey, of Lamar, Mo., had been celebrating her 66th birthday that night at Richmond Centre. She was driving a large semitrailer, and at 9 p.m. she was moving it from one parking lot to another.

Kelly said he saw Lackey drive over a grass island, and employees at PetSmart had previously reported to him that the driver had seemed intoxicated when she had been in the store.

Kelly said he activated the blue lights on his vehicle to “mark the spot” and called for Richmond police.

“Upon my arrival, I came into contact with Constable Kelley (sic), who advised that (Lackey) was stopped due to possibly being intoxicated,” the RPD report, written by Lydia Douglas, stated.

Lackey failed several field sobriety tests and blew a blood alcohol content reading of .092 on the officer’s Breathalyzer. A BAC of .08 or more is considered legally drunk in Kentucky.

Lackey was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. She was arraigned April 23 and a court trial was slated for May 1.

However, on May 1, Lackey’s attorney, Wes Browne, filed a motion to suppress the evidence gathered after the “illegal traffic stop.” The issue, once again, was the fact Kelly used blue lights to stop Lackey when he was not authorized to use them.

The suppression motion was granted by District Judge Brandy Oliver Brown.

“Constable does not have approval of Fiscal Court for emergency police lights,” the notes in the case file state. “No stop allowed while so equipped.

Another case involving a drunken driver on Lexington Road that Kelly stopped also was thrown out of court, according to Kelly.

Woosnam said she understands that Kelly’s intentions for performing traffic stops are right, but “his way of going about it isn’t right.”

She’s concerned that the amount of force used by Kelly during these stops, like was used on her client, might result in someone being seriously injured, or worse, because Kelly does not have the law enforcement training and experience to use those techniques.

“He’s kind of a rogue,” Woosnam said.

‘They just don’t want me to do my job’

Judge/Executive Kent Clark said that the four constables in Madison County are not allowed to use blue lights on their vehicles.

“We’ve never allowed that,” Clark said.

Clark said he’s explained to Kelly about what his job entails – escorting funerals, serving warrants and perhaps transporting prisoners from Berea.

“Little things that can help the municipalities,” Clark said.

Clark said Kelly must complete officer training through the Department of Criminal Justice Training before being allowed to use blue lights. Constables are bonded through the county, and therefore “we’d be liable” if anything happened, Clark said.

“He’s not properly trained,” Clark said. “Just because he’s won an election doesn’t give him the authority to do that.”

Kelly disagrees with Clark about what his job entails and insists that the judge/executive has no authority over what he does outside of the blue lights authorization.

“What Kent Clark doesn’t understand is I’m not his constable, I’m the constable for the people of District 2,” Kelly said.

Kelly said Clark gave him approval to use the blue lights when he first started as constable, telling him “only to use them if the situation is blatant.”

However, Kelly said Clark now says he never gave approval to use the blue lights.

Kelly strongly believes that he needs to do more than simply serve papers and escort funerals.

“I ran (for constable) as a community service,” Kelly said. “God put me here.”

Kelly said besides his work at Richmond Centre, which is part of District 2, he is a trained weather spotter and if requested, checks on homes when the residents are on vacation. He patrols county roads at night and is part of a neighborhood watch. He also does wellness checks on elderly residents in his district.

Kelly said his 30 years in the security field gives him the experience he needs to be an active constable. He completed a 40-hour course in the use of force and crisis resolution in 1972 that was conducted by the Arizona Highway Patrol, Kelly said.

Kelly is armed when he is on patrol.

“All constables are armed,” Kelly said.

Kelly said he has invested in many books and training videos, and he has done many ride-alongs with local police officers. He’s a member of the Fraternal Order of Police.

“I’ve been informally trained,” Kelly said. “... Everything I’ve done is by the book.”

Kelly said he’d have no problem taking the Department of Criminal Justice Training academy, but he has been on the waiting list for two years. Commissioned officers that are required by law to have the training get priority admission.

Kelly’s security company employs several local police officers.

“Every police officer who works with me disagrees” about the cases being thrown out, Kelly said. He does not like how the judges have treated him and his work.

“I don’t get paid to be treated like a criminal,” Kelly said. “They were all really good stops, they just don’t want me to do my job.”

Kelly said he’s unsure if he will be running for re-election in two years. He’s invested thousands of his own money in his equipment and vehicle.

“We’ll have to see how this goes,” Kelly said, acknowledging that Madison County hasn’t had a constable like him in at least 20 years. “I enjoy doing this.”

Association promotes more training

Problems with constables in other counties have led to proposed legislation in the General Assembly to abolish or greatly limit the powers of constables. The bills haven’t gotten enough legislative support to be voted into law.

Those attempts to limit and abolish constables are not the answer because many rural counties rely on constables, Fayette County Deputy Constable Edward Sparks said. Sparks also is vice president of the Kentucky Constable Association.

“A lot of them do actual policing,” Sparks said. Constables serve warrants in Jessamine County, and in Estill County one constable is in the rotation for emergency calls, he said.

The answer, Sparks said, is requiring constables to have mandatory training. While state law requires deputy sheriffs and municipal police officers to undergo 16 weeks of initial training and 40 hours of annual in-service training, there is no training requirement for constables.

“(Constables) need to be trained and qualified on nonlethal force,” Sparks said. He also recommends that all constables have a policy and procedure manual.

The Kentucky Constable Association strongly encourages all constables to seek out training, and the group often sponsors workshops and training sessions.

While constables have arresting powers, they do not earn a salary. They earn money from fees paid for serving subpoenas or other legal papers, so it’s not unusual for them to take on security work, Sparks said.

“Constables are very much needed across Kentucky,” Sparks said.

Sarah Hogsed can be reached at shogsed@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.