Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

As reported yesterday by the Sun, Clark County Judge-Executive Les Yates last week sued the Clark County Fiscal Court.

The contents of the suit, which was filed last week in Clark County Circuit Court by Louisville attorney Jason Nemes, alleged that the Fiscal Court violated several provisions of the Kentucky Constitution and infringed on several of his statutory duties and responsibilities.

According to the suit, these duties include being able to hire and appoint choices for several key county administrative posts, among others.

As of this writing, a court date has not been scheduled.

The suit names all Fiscal Court Magistrates as defendants including Magistrates Chris Davis and Dan Konstantopoulos, who each issued a written statement to the Sun on Monday regarding the lawsuit.

“I am disappointed Les Yates has filed a lawsuit against the Fiscal Court. His claims are inaccurate. His lawsuit has zero merits,” Konstantopoulos said. “Let’s not forget that Les Yates called my colleagues and I ‘Domestic Terrorists’ in his bid for office.  So why should I be surprised?”

“I was very disappointed in the decision by County Judge-Executive Les Yates to file a lawsuit against all the Magistrates of the Fiscal Court,” Davis said. “The claims made in this lawsuit are wholly inaccurate, as the Fiscal Court did not violate the State Constitution or any local county ordinances.   I am confident the Fiscal Court will mount a vigorous defense and ultimately prevail. While it is clear that Les Yates has struggled to effectively lead the Fiscal Court and county government, his lawsuit will only serve to further diminish his own record and his already-poor relationship with the Fiscal Court.”

Fellow Clark County Magistrates Robert Blanton, Mark Miller and Ernest Pasley have declined to comment at this time. Magistrate Steve Craycraft did not respond to an attempt by the Sun to reach him for comment.

Yates supplied the following comment on Monday:  “The sad thing is this whole thing is political. It started back years ago. The Fiscal Court in this county has well overstepped their boundaries in what they can and can’t do…the problem that that makes is that there’s nobody in charge of our county government. That’s the number one problem in Clark County [is] there’s nobody in charge. I don’t have an axe to grind with anybody. I just want everybody to do their job. I think now the time has come where they don’t have to answer to me, but they’re going to have to answer to the public. These guys for some reason, I don’t know why, they want control. It’s all about control. Unfortunately, it’s about political control.”