Kentucky school board member must vacate seat due to conflict of interest, AG’s office says
The Kentucky Attorney General’s office on Monday notified a Montgomery County Schools board member that he was ineligible to serve on the board because his brother works for the school district.
“The Office regrets that this unfortunate situation occurred,” said a letter to representative Josh Oney from Jeremy J. Sylvester, assistant attorney general.
But Sylvester’s letter said the office of the attorney general has a duty to enforce the law, “which in this case is unambiguous.”
Under state law, no person shall be eligible for membership on a board of education if they have a relative employed by the school district, the letter said.
The attorney general could remove Oney from office if necessary, Sylvester said. Oney won the November election over incumbent Bill R. Morgan.
“Accordingly, you must refrain from taking the oath of Office for your position as a Board member and forward a copy of your resignation letter to the Office no later than December 29, 2023,” Sylvester said in the letter.
Such an ineligibility ruling from the attorney general’s office is uncommon, according to a Kentucky School Boards Association official.
“I don’t want to resign because I truly feel that I have been (wronged) along with the voters in Montgomery County,” Oney told the Herald-Leader Tuesday.
Oney said his brother, Jason Oney, resigned as the middle school softball coach on May 25. Josh Oney then filed to run for the District 2 School Board seat, he said.
However, Jason was hired as a middle school softball coach in October, two weeks prior to the election, Oney said.
On October 31, Oney said he received an email that Bill Morgan filed a lawsuit against him for running for school board. He said he did not see the notification about the hearing for a ruling until the election was already in process with mail-in ballots.
He said he was served notification about the hearing nine hours after the hearing, did not attend and the judge ruled him ineligible.
He said he was declared the winner by the vote count.
Montgomery County Superintendent Matthew Thompson did not immediately comment to the Herald-Leader.
A final judgment was entered by the Montgomery Circuit Court on Nov. 2 in an action filed by Oney’s opponent for the seat. The judgment found that Oney was ineligible to serve because of his brother’s employment with the school district. His named still appeared on the ballot and he received more votes than his opponent, the AG letter said.
While not a frequent occurrence, it’s not uncommon for school board members to vacate their seats due to family members seeking employment with the district or to otherwise avoid a potential conflict of interest that arises while they are in office, said KSBA spokesperson Josh Shoulta.
“Generally speaking, however, ineligibility would potentially come up with the county clerk when someone attempts to file to run for a board seat, or when someone applies for appointment to fill an unscheduled school board vacancy. A finding of ineligibility by the (Office of the Attorney General) is far less common simply by nature of the process,” Shoulta said.
The attorney general’s office has asked the assistant secretary of state and the Montgomery county clerk what effect, if any, the judgment has on the validity of the election between Oney and Morgan and what next steps must be taken, the letter said.
Both Morgan’s attorney Timothy Crawford and Josh Oney provided to the Herald-Leader documentation that showed the Montgomery County Clerk and other members of the Board of Elections certified Oney’s win on November 8, the day after the election.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
