COVINGTON — Hundreds of Kenton County felony cases may be delayed because of a potential conflict of interest with the administration of incoming Commonwealth Attorney Bill Crockett.

        This is just one rut in the bumpy transitional road between longtime Kenton County Commonwealth Attorney Don Buring and his Republican successor, Mr. Crockett, chief prosecutor in the county attorney's office.

        Mr. Buring and Mr. Crockett — who prosecute in the same courthouse and occupy offices only three floors apart in the county administration building — have not met once to facilitate the handoff of any cases, both men said.

        Mr. Crockett said what's making his transition difficult is the lack of cooperation from Mr. Buring, something that Mr. Buring and his staff deny.

        Rob Sanders, a prosecutor in Mr. Buring's office, said the conflict exists because Mr. Crockett has hired Mike Folk, an attorney with the Kenton County public defender's office. Mr. Sanders said there will have to be hearings in every case involving the public defender's office to see whether Mr. Folk has had any contact with the case.

        More than 400 cases, or 70 percent of the cases handled by the commonwealth attorney, are with the public defender's office, Mr. Sanders said.

        Kenton County Circuit Judge Steven Jaeger confirmed that a potential conflict of interest will have to be looked at on a case-by-case basis. Judge Jaeger is the chief circuit court judge for the county.

        Another member of Mr. Crockett's staff with a potential conflict of interest in many cases is attorney Jim Godsey, who has done a lot of conflict resolution work with the public defender's office.

        Mr. Crockett has described Mr. Folk and Mr. Godsey as senior prosecutors on his staff.

        Some high-profile cases which probably will be delayed because of a conflict of interest include the sentencing hearing of admitted killer Jeffrey Gabbard, the murder trial of Jessie James Garth and the second death-penalty case for Fred Furnish.

        Mr. Crockett said he will work as fast as possible to resolve all cases, even ones with a conflict of interest.Where there is a conflict of interest, the state attorney general will appoint a special prosecutor.

        Mr. Crockett said he has asked, in writing, for information on the office's operating expenses and a breakdown of pending cases. He said he hasn't received a response, although he did miss at least one telephone call from Mr. Buring.

        “We have not had any discussions, despite my request for information,” Mr. Crockett said. “I have no clue what is there. I have not seen the first file, the first piece of paper.”

        Mr. Buring said he made the first attempt at initiating cooperation, but he, too, missed a call from Mr. Crockett.

        Mr. Sanders, a member of Mr. Buring's administration, said he resented Mr. Crockett's implication that files were being withheld.

        “Mr. Crockett is only three floors below us,” Mr. Sanders said. “He could walk up here right now, walk through the doors and have access to any files he wants. We have not seen hide nor hair of Mr. Crockett since he won this election.”

        Mr. Buring said he would not want to share information with Mr. Crockett where a conflict of interest exists. Mr. Buring said if he were to share information on those cases, matters could become more complicated.

        “If something goes wrong with these cases after the first of the year,” Mr. Sanders said, “it is not going to be to any lack of cooperation from the present administration.”

        Mr. Crockett said: “I'm not going to call him every day and say "I got to get this. I got to get this. I got to get this.' I think it is unfortunate that he (Mr. Buring) has not taken my request seriously, but I don't want to get in a debate in the media.”

        There have been several steps taken to ease the transition come Jan. 1, including Mr. Crockett naming key members of his staff. They include:

        • Jack Osterhage. He has prosecuted in Kenton County for more than 10 years and previously worked under Mr. Crockett in the Kenton County Attorney's office.

        • Jim Godsey. He served as a Kenton County district court judge for more than 10 years before losing an election to Judge Martin J. Sheehan.

        • Mr. Folk. He is leaving his job in the public defenders office to become a prosecutor. He is computer software engineer by trade.

        • Ruey Newsom. He is an attorney in private practice.

        • Justin Durstock. He has been practicing law about 1 1/2 years.

        • Dan Braun. He currently works under Mr. Buring. He is the only part-time prosecutor in the office and has never tried a felony case.

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