Rick Boling’s tenure as Christian County’s chief prosecutor is reportedly nearing its end.
According to a Monday afternoon report from the Courier-Journal, the Commonwealth’s attorney of the Third Judicial District is set to resign on February 28 — bringing some closure to what has been a tumultuous time over the last two-plus years.
The report noted that it was Representative. Jason Nemes, Majority whip from Louisville and the 33rd District, who alerted media of Boling’s departure.
And it was Nemes who last week brought about measures toward the impeachment of Boling and another prosecutor for the 21st Judicial Circuit: Ronnie Goldy Jr.
Boling’s troubles began in February 2020, when the Inquiry Commission issued a complaint concerning a letter the aforementioned wrote — using his office’s letterhead — a missive to then-Governor Matt Bevin, concerning a pardon request for convicted sexual assaulter Dayton Jones.
From the Commission’s standpoint, Boling’s letter contended that “Jones’ biggest problem is that the Democratic Party controlled then-prosecutor Lynn Pryor, the judge in the case John Atkins, as well as Jones’ defense counsel.” Boling reportedly offered no evidence to these claims. Bevin commuted the Jones’ sentence, and the order said Boling’s letter received “extensive media attention.”
In multiple local reports from January 2020, Boling stated even then he “was not resigning,” and that he wanted to move on from a pardon letter that “was a mistake.” And after the letter was made public, Boling stated he reached an informal agreement with Judge Andrew Self and Atkins to not appear in the Christian County Judicial Center for an undisclosed period of time.
By the summer of 2020, this Commission initiated a second complaint against Boling regarding Karen Brafman — who had been charged with two counts of arson and six counts of attempted murder.
The Supreme Court reversed a circuit court jury’s conviction in December 2020 due to Boling’s misconduct, and the reversal order said Boling was “personally aware” of evidence that Brafman was intoxicated and argued to the court that evidence of her intoxication did not exist, constituting — at minimum — negligence and failed “burden of proof.”
Just last month, a Kentucky Supreme Court trial commissioner recommended to the Kentucky Bar Association that Boling be suspended from practicing law for five years. This was following several months of testimony, and after a show-cause order had been issued last May — to determine if Boling should be suspended because of multiple previous instances of alleged professional misconduct and a known delay in negotiating agreed-upon sanctions regarding these incidents.
In August 2022, both Boling and Goldy Jr. were expelled from the Kentucky Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Association for their misdeeds.
The association’s president, 56th Judicial Circuit Attorney Carrie Ovey-Wiggins, told the Courier Journal then that serving as an elected Commonwealth’s Attorney is “a privilege,” as is membership to the association. She added that information had “come to light regarding [Boling and Goldy Jr.]” that fell “well below standards” the organization believed attorneys of such stature should uphold to “maintain public trust.”
