By Dylan T. Lovan
The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - An hour before Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned the nation of possible terrorist attacks on the East Coast, he told Erwin Roberts.

Roberts, Kentucky's homeland security director, sat in on the Aug. 1 conference call with other state advisers as Ridge relayed the warnings for New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

"When they wanted someone in the state to know they were getting ready to go public with this information, they called me," Roberts said in an interview.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher plucked Roberts from the U.S. Attorney's office in March to be the state's second director of Homeland Security.

The department has a staff of eight and operates out of an office in the sleek new Transportation Cabinet building in downtown Frankfort. Roberts said his staff should grow to about 17 this month.

Roberts, whose father was in the Army, grew up in Meade and Hardin counties near Fort Knox after moving to this state when he was 4 years old.

Now, at 32, the former federal prosecutor is the state's top official on terrorism.

Roberts got his first taste of fighting terror in a post-9/11 environment as an assistant in the U.S. Attorney's office in Louisville. There, he prompted law enforcement and other local agencies to increase their communication with federal officials after he was tapped to head the office's anti-terrorism task force in March 2002. He worked under then-U.S. Attorney Steve Pence, now Kentucky's lieutenant governor.

"The local police departments, the sheriff's offices, they have the greatest number of people out there on the street. They have the greatest number of eyes to see things and pick up on things. Chances are pretty good they're going to come across someone who wants to do a terrorist act before a federal or state agent might," Roberts said.

Roberts is overseeing a first in his office: the distribution of federal grants from the Department of Homeland Security. The grants go to state agencies, cities and counties. The money used to be administered by the state's Division of Emergency Management.

About $40 million in federal funding from the Homeland Security Grant Program has poured into Kentucky from 2001 through September 2003, according to figures provided by Roberts' office.

Roberts said the money has helped train officials and upgrade equipment used by state and local agencies.

For example, for fiscal year 2003, Kentucky State Police received $200,000 to spend on equipment for a Hazardous Devices Unit, and the Owensboro bomb squad has been allotted $100,000 for a bomb disposal trailer.

However, more than half the money - about $22 million - had yet to be spent as of Aug. 10, according to the documents.

Roberts said several factors have slowed the distribution of the funding. Since it is federal reimbursement money, many cities and counties have not yet been able to outlay money in their budgets to buy emergency equipment.

He said other factors, like the bidding process and a shortage of the equipment nationally has slowed the federal funding.

"Everybody around the whole country is trying to do the same thing, as far as trying to buy this type of equipment, and from what I understand there is a backlog on the equipment," Roberts said. "They can't spend the money until the equipment is available."

Roberts said since he took office in March, about $9.5 million of that $22 million has been disbursed. He also said only about four Kentucky counties have yet to set aside money in their budgets for the equipment, down from about 80 counties when he came into office.

Roberts said the equipment for cities and counties can be used any time, and isn't reserved for terrorist attacks in a state not considered a prime target.

Roberts' predecessor said Kentucky's low profile doesn't excuse the state from being prepared for attacks.

"A low priority of an attack does not mean you ignore the threat and don't plan for it," said Ray Nelson, who became the state's first homeland security adviser in November 2001.

"The point is Kentucky does have critical infrastructure sites," said Nelson, who now works for a security and planning corporation in Arlington, Va.

"The terrorists are not necessarily looking for a single-strike event; they could have multiple strikes hitting either multiple critical infrastructure sites ... and they're going to go into the heartland of America to do it. Kentucky is not immune to that," Nelson said.

Roberts said Kentuckians have a role to play in the fight against terrorism.

"That's one of our big messages that we're trying to get out to people, is that they don't need to be afraid or be fearful," he said. "They just need to pay attention - just a little bit."