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Staff Report

 

Attorney General Russell Coleman announced that legal action by the Attorney General’s Office of Special Prosecutions resulted in the guilty plea of former Owsley County Clerk Shanna Oliver for Misuse of Confidential Information and Official Misconduct. Oliver, 41, a Booneville Republican, was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury in January and resigned from office on March 31.

On April 12, 2024, as part of a plea agreement, Oliver pled guilty on one count of Misuse of Confidential Information (Class D Felony) and one count of Official Misconduct Second Degree (Class B Misdemeanor).

As conditions of the plea, Oliver is prohibited from filing as a candidate for Owsley County Clerk in the future. She also cannot ever be employed by the Office and must reasonably assist in the transition.

“Owsley County voters hired their County Clerk to do a job, and she has broken the public trust,” said Attorney General Coleman. “I’m proud to work alongside the dedicated detectives of DCI’s Public Integrity Branch and our skilled prosecutors who are promoting the clean and honest government Kentuckians deserve.”

According to the indictment, upon proper request and knowing she lacked the authority to retain them, Oliver unlawfully refused to deliver public records in her possession to public servants from the Kentucky Department of Vehicle Regulation, who were lawfully entitled to receive such records for examination or other purposes. In her plea, Oliver admitted that over a nearly two-year period, she knowingly failed to submit over 500 applications for title to the Department, and as a result, the owners did not receive their titles.

Additionally, according to the indictment, Oliver, a public servant, unlawfully refrained from performing her duty when she failed to send paperwork regarding the purchase of a trailer to the Kentucky Department of Vehicle Regulation. In her plea, she admitted she knowingly failed to send the paperwork to the Department which the dealer had sent twice to Oliver.

Owsley County Judge Executive Zeke Little Jr., appointed Austin Bowling as the new County Clerk.

Detectives Dakota Stamper and Matt Easter of the Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI) investigated the case on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office. Assistant Attorney General Barbara Whaley prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth.