NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — Speaking candidly from his office inside the brand new, sprawling Nicholasville Police department headquarters, Sergeant Kevin Grimes talked about the primary election he won less than 24 hours earlier.
“Yeah, I am surprised. Here’s a guy who’d been in office for 20 years, and for the most part ran a respectable office. Some hiccups over the last couple of years, but all in all still a pretty good person,” Grimes said.
Grimes was referring to Sheriff Kevin Corman, who he unseated last night with the help of Jessamine County voters, of course. Grimes won the primary election, and because there is no Democratic challenger to face off against in November, the 23-year police department veteran he been elected Sheriff.
“It still hasn’t sunk in as of today,” he said. “I’m still reeling from the excitement, from the fatigue from the whole campaign thing,” he continued, before admitting he had no idea what he was getting himself into as this was the first campaign he’d ever run.
Sergeant Grimes was prepared to retire on July 31 of this year, but at some point got an idea to run for Sheriff. His feeling was the people of Jessamine County might be ready for change. And he may have gotten a little boost from the October arrest of Sheriff Corman on a DUI charge. He won’t be sworn in until the new year, and between now and then there’s still much work to be done on the police force.
“I’ll have to train my replacement because they will be new. And as far as down there (Sheriff’s office), I hope that I can have some open communication with the administration and start getting the foundation laid for a smooth transition,” he explained.
Grimes knows many of the Sheriff’s Deputies and office staff members who will soon be under his leadership, and he’s excited to work with them.
“I see an outstanding group of men and women. It should be a smooth transition,” he stated.
Sergeant Grimes also spent 15 of his 23 years teaching Jessamine County’s students through the “DARE” program. He said he will miss that very much and hopes to be able to continue that on some level from his new post in the Sheriff’s office. He thinks it’s very possible that many of the thousands of kids he taught, who are now of age to vote, may have put a check next to his name on Election Day.
And, naturally, you don’t work in a place for more than two decades without feeling some sort of emotional attachment to the co-workers you’ll be leaving behind.
“The biggest thing I can say I’ll miss here is the comradery amongst the officers and staff I’ve worked with,” Grimes said.
Grimes said he’ll begin his new role by looking into the budget as well as the county’s population number to ensure the office is adequately staffed to handle the call volume and other tasks, for which the Sheriff’s office is responsible.
“I just jumped into this thing head-first and said, ‘I’m going to do anything I can to try to make Jessamine County a better place,’” he said of his intentions when announcing his candidacy months ago.
The county’s voters have sent him to a new office to do just that.
