Ky. official: All backlogged rape kits tested

FRANKFORT (AP) — A police official in Kentucky says all of the state’s backlogged rape evidence kits have been tested.

WLKY-TV reports that Laura Dudkamp, director of the Kentucky State Police crime lab, told lawmakers in Frankfort on Friday that DNA samples from more than 3,000 backlogged kits have been tested and officials are beginning to turn their attention to reopening cases.

Kits containing DNA samples collected from sexual assault victims sat untested for decades until a 2016 law required them to be examined.

Officials say 356 cases have been submitted to a national database and 240 of those have been linked to offenders.

Sudkamp said work is being slowed by low pay for state crime lab workers. Many are leaving for other states, or withdrawing their job applications.

Coroner: Infant found dead on Ky. road

LEXINGTON (AP) — Authorities say an infant’s body was found on a Kentucky road.

Lexington police responded to a report of a dead baby in a neighborhood road early Sunday morning. Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn told news outlets that the baby appeared to be a newborn and was not delivered at a hospital.

Ginn said a passer-by found the baby.

The coroner’s office is handling the investigation.

Further details have not been released.

Program helps Army personnel transition to private workforce

FORT KNOX (AP) — A program at Fort Knox in Kentucky that helps U.S. Army personnel transition into the private workforce has been touted as a success during its first year.

The News-Enterprise reported Monday the Fort Knox Career Skills Program has helped transitioning service members since the beginning of the year through its Senior Leaders Corporate Fellowship Program. It’s separated into four eight-week courses per year providing hands-on fellowship experience with companies in the Louisville area.

Fort Knox Education Center officer Jacque Jenkins says 90 percent of those who have completed it have been offered a job. The first cohort began in February and participants have been designated to companies such as General Electric and Brown-Forman.

Participants must be 180 days or less away from their transition date to apply for the program.

Attorney General: Kentucky House violated Open Meetings Act

FRANKFORT (AP) — The Kentucky attorney general’s office says the state House of Representatives violated the Open Meetings Act by holding a private meeting to discuss the state’s pension systems.

The Bluegrass Institute Center for Open Government filed an open-meetings complaint in response to House members holding a closed-to-the-public meeting in August to discuss a state-funded analysis of the public retirement systems.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Assistant Attorney General Matt James wrote in the opinion released Monday that a quorum of House members were present, so the meeting should have been open.

An attorney for the House had argued that the meeting was for the House majority caucus, with members of the House minority caucus invited as guests. Both entities are exempt from the Open Meetings Act.

The House has 30 days to accept or appeal the ruling.