Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd
By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
Last year, on November 2022, the people of Barren County cast their votes for a variety of public offices including city councils and mayors of both Cave City and Glasgow, several Barren County magistrates and the Barren County Judge-Executive.
Jamie Bewley Byrd (R) won her election against incumbent Micheal Hale (D) receiving 59.6 percent of the votes, or 8,433 out of the 14,139 votes cast on that Nov. 9 day. With the end of 2023 less than two weeks away, Byrd reflects on her year as the county’s top executive.
One of the things she said she is pretty proud of looking back on this year is the professional, working relationships she has with all the mayors of Barren County — Glasgow Mayor Henry Royse, Cave City Mayor Dwayne Hatcher and Park City Mayor Larry Poteet — as well as the magistrates of the county and the surrounding counties’ administrations.
“We work hand in hand on goals for each of their cities and I feel that we have a good relationship,” Byrd said. “I feel like our relationships are very cohesive. We’ve really improved from Day 1. That’s something we can say we’re all proud of.”
In the same realm of relationships, Byrd said she is proud of her relationships in the commonwealth’s capital that has, in many cases, allowed her to apply for grants or reimbursements, like the reimbursement of roughly $200,000 the state is giving to the county for its work at handling the storm in March. According to the Kentucky Gazette’s “2023 Notable Women in Kentucky Politics and Government,” which the judge-executive is listed in, Byrd served in various positions in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet until 2011. This previous work at the state level helped her foster relationships with numerous notable state figures, like State Senate President Pro Tempore David Givens.
“We are very well known in Frankfort now and to all the other counties,” Byrd said. “That will pay off in the long term for us.”
Though she admits her administration “rocked the boat” with their spending, she said she wants the residents of the county “to see their tax dollars at work” and thus has invested in “long-term, forward thinking” projects like the 38,000 sq. ft. emergency management building — located on the corner of S. Franklin and E. College Streets — the low water ford for Ritters Mill Road and the renovations to Jackie Browning Park, which was greenlit to start Phase A at the fiscal court meeting on Dec. 19.
“I feel like I’ve done some smart investments in Barren County,” Byrd said.
Currently the county has four projects underway — the justice center, the emergency management building, the old U.S. bank building and the Jackie Browning Park renovations — with at least two others queued up — namely the agriculture center eyed for Cave City and the Sportsplex. With all those choices, Byrd said it is hard to pick the project she is most proud of because of the vastly different groups they will benefit.
“It’s hard to pick…because each of them serve different groups,” Byrd said. “If I go by parenting and investment in our children then it’s anything we do in the parks and rec department…but like the U.S. Bank building is going to serve so many and fill a void we have in the county…so there’s economic development. We’re investing in our downtown.”
While she said everyone in her administration has “thrived” during their first year, she said there were also some “learning” moments and negatives as well.
“You can’t please everybody; you just can’t,” Byrd said. “But if you run every day of your job, or life, trying to please everybody you’ll never do anything. So there are things I know people are not happy with me about, but I’m doing what’s best for the county.”
In the three remaining years of her term she said she would like to focus more on branding, investing more in the youth and beautifying the county, not just through the non-profit of which she is a board member, but in general as “that is what companies and businesses look at when deciding to move here.” In that realm she wants to “see more ribbon cuttings” in the next year as well.
Byrd said she has “basically already committed to running again” in order to see all these projects to completion.
“I’ve really enjoyed being able to represent this area and highlight how wonderful this community is,” Byrd said.
“I cannot believe it’s already been a year,” Byrd said. “It’s been a pleasure to serve…,” Byrd said at the fiscal court meeting.
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