The Kentucky Attorney General’s Office has issued an opinion that Barren County Jailer Leland Cox’s actions do not rise to the level of misfeasance or malfeasance.

Karen Davis, commonwealth’s attorney for Barren and Metcalfe counties, had sent a letter to the attorney general’s office asking three questions.

The first was about the possible impact of Cox pleading guilty through an Alford plea, which does not require a defendant to admit guilt, but instead allows them to plead guilty based on the belief the prosecution has enough evidence to convict, secondly would the jurisdiction in this case be circuit or district court and finally would these allegations, if proven, fall within Kentucky’s misfeasance or malfeasance statue.

Cox pleaded guilty to 30 counts of misdemeanor third-degree sexual abuse through an Alford plea on March 11. Part of the agreement included no contact with the female employees at the jail who were victims in the case. The charges relate to Cox having unwanted sexual contact with employees.

The attorney general ruling states that a conviction for misfeasance or malfeasance “must be buttressed by some official action.”

The court ruling cited in the attorney general’s ruling is that a public official can do a purely personal act while in the process of performing an official function.

“It is clear, in this scenario at least, that the individual in question, could not be removed from office pursuant to KRS 61.170 unless a new indictment with allegations rising to the legal definition of misfeasance or malfeasance in office were to issue,” according to the ruling.

Specific acts mentioned under a separate statute of removing public officials that allows for the removal of a police officer includes: commission of a trespass or wrongful act in performance of official duty, accepting a bribe to neglect official duty, gross neglect equivalent to fraud, willful neglect and such form of misfeasance or malfeasance as involve a failure in the performance of the duties required by law, careless or intentional failure to exercise due diligence in the performance of official duty, habitual drunkenness in office, and gross immorality or misconduct in office amounting to neglect of duty.

The ruling stated that Cox’s action would most closely resemble the gross immorality or misconduct. According to Kentucky law the governor must sign these charges and in this instance, despite a local attempt to get the governor to bring removal charges, Gov. Steve Beshear has not taken action.

The ruling states that Cox’s acts of sexual abuse occurred as private acts and were not considered to be official act legally, Davis said.

After not hearing any comment from the attorney general’s office for a few months, Davis said, she decided to send a second letter in which she requested a special prosecutor for a potential misfeasance or malfeasance prosecution.

In that letter Davis wrote that she had spoken with Detective Steve Bryant, from Kentucky State Police Drug Enforcement/Special Investigations, who handled the initial investigation. Bryant said he was willing to present information for a misfeasance or malfeasance case to a Barren County grand jury if necessary.

Davis also had spoken with Todd County Attorney Harold “Mac” Johns, the special prosecutor in the criminal case against Cox. He had agreed to provide a copy of the discovery file for the sexual abuse case for any possible misfeasance or malfeasance query.

“I hadn’t heard anything for a couple of months and I promised Mrs. (Janet) Sadler that I would check on it,” Davis said.

Even if the ruling had determined it was possible to charge Cox with misfeasance or malfeasance, a special prosecutor would have been necessary, she said.