ROWAN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Elwood Caudill Jr. has taken the reins from Kim Davis at the Rowan County Clerk’s Office, telling LEX 18 that the transition has been challenging but he is hoping to move the county forward from the past controversy.
“Whatever that law says, that’s what we’ll do here. So I welcome everyone into this office because everyone will be treated equal,” said Caudill.
Caudill beat embattled clerk Davis in the 2018 election.
He said that his first day open on Jan. 2 was hectic, to say the least.
“We was hammered pretty much all day. But it was nothing that we couldn’t control,” he said.
Caudill tells LEX 18 that a lot of people were rushing to renew license plates since Davis decided to close the office early and retire before her term was up in order to maintain benefits, according to the Morehead News.
“That did put a big pinch on people that was going out of town for the new year, going to travel, so they was really concerned they’d get pulled over with expired tags,” he said.
They couldn’t process credit cards for part of the first day rush, but Caudill said that his staff pulled through.
“I’m so excited for what’s to come. I’m so at ease. I just keep going back to the staff, how great they are and how well they do their jobs,” he said.
Caudill claims that Davis did not offer any help during the transition.
He said he’s forging forward, launching a new county clerk website, which you can visit here.
“We have picked up and moved on. The normal is back. And if you have to come back here and do a story, it’s not going to be because of me,” Caudill said.
Attempts to reach Davis for comment were not success.
Caudill told LEX 18 that he especially wanted to thank the community for their overwhelming support during his first few days in office and said it took a team effort to get everything up and running.
He said the Fazoli’s in Morehead even catered free lunch for his staff to show their appreciation, refusing to let him pay.
