BY GREGORY A. HALL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FORT MITCHELL -- Kenton County Coroner Dr. David Suetholz was cleared by Kentucky State Police (KSP) who investigated the registration of his 1996 Chevrolet Tahoe.
Dr. Suetholz registered the car in his name and bought personal license plates last month after learning of the investigation. He had first registered the car in the name of his public office, thereby avoiding taxes and licensing fees.
A letter from the state motor vehicle department said the practice is allowed, but Dr. Suetholz said he decided to buy the personal plates anyway.
"If there's a problem, it's in the way the state decides who to issue these licenses," Dr. Suetholz said Monday.
Detective Rodney Ballard and Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmondson closed the investigation, citing the letter from the state, according to KSP records requested by The Enquirer.
Detective Ballard and Assistant County Attorney Don Richardson had planned to ask Attorney General Ben Chandler for an opinion on who qualified for official plates or call for the Transportation Cabinet to review the policy.
Dr. Suetholz said he did nothing wrong. He acknowledged using the car for personal trips but said most of the time it was for official business.
He changed the plates to prevent a fuss.
"People can inflame things and take them the wrong way," he said.
Dr. Suetholz said it's "coincidental, if not significant," that he drove the car a year-and-a-half before an anonymous tipster reported it to the KSP -- around the time he filed for re-election. He is opposed in the Republican primary by James Michael Ward IV of Erlanger.
Dr. Suetholz re-registered the car on March 11, paying $1,657.50 in usage tax.
Kenton County Clerk Bill Aylor estimates Dr. Suetholz didn't have to pay about $700 in property taxes because of the official plates.
Other county officers have vehicles with official tags, Mr. Aylor said, but those were bought with public funds and approved by the Kenton Fiscal Court.
