COVINGTON — Two Kenton County Republican elected officials — Sheriff Chuck Korzenborn and Jailer Terry Carl — formally kicked off their 2002 campaigns Friday by filing for re-election.

        The two officials, each elected to their first political office in 1998, jointly filed their campaign papers at the Kenton County Courthouse.

        “We've done a lot of work together over the last three years and we feel like our departments work well together,” Mr. Korzenborn said. “So Terry and I decided to show some solidarity by coming in and filing our papers together.”

        Neither candidate has an opponent for next year's race. However, retiring Ludlow Police Chief Tom Collins said he might challenge Sheriff Korzenborn.

        Covington Police Spc. George Russell, a 25-year veteran who in June received a Kentucky Peace Officers' Association award for his work targeting highway speeders, also has been mentioned as a candidate for sheriff.

        Sheriff Korzenborn, an Edgewood resident and the former owner of a Fort Mitchell auto repair business, said he will run on a platform of continuing to beef up the law enforcement role of the office.

        In past administrations, the county sheriff mostly has overseen the collection of county taxes, served warrants, and provided bailiffs and security in courtrooms.

        Sheriff Korzenborn's staff performs those duties, but is also actively engaged in law enforcement.

        Sheriff's deputies have participated in drug sweeps and undercover patrols on Covington's east side, have assisted police departments on investigations and traffic patrols and often provide backup to smaller cities with few officers.

        Sheriff Korzenborn said he has surrounded himself with experienced law enforcement personnel.

        The sheriff said he has made paying taxes easier in the county; they can now be paid at any Fifth Third bank in Kenton County.

        Mr. Carl said his main objectives in a second term will be continuing training of his staff and trying to offset the costs of running the jail.

        He recently hired a training expert from the Jefferson County Detention Center in Louisville to work with his staff of 90.

        “This individual worked with a staff of more than 600, and he has a lot of expertise and experience in training,” Mr. Carl said.

        Mr. Carl said he will continue operating a work-release program for prisoners that saves the county money.

        The work program started about 15 years ago, when Kentucky prisons, facing a federal limit on the number of inmates they could hold, devised a program that would let some state prisoners remain in county jails, providing free labor to the county.

        Class D felons are serving one- to five-year sentences for state crimes that are largely nonviolent offenses.

        In Kenton County, the 10 county departments and agencies that benefit from the prisoners' labor say they save thousands in taxpayer dollars, Mr. Carl said.

        The jailer admits he got off to a “rough start” after taking office in early 1999.

        There were several escapes and attempted escapes, and just 25 days into his term a prisoner died.

        “I can see where we are making slow progress in a lot of areas,” Mr. Carl said. “And we have a long way to go. But the key is having leaders and a staff decided to professionalism and improving things, and that's what we have at the jail.”

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