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On Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, Governor Andy Beshear appointed Fred Allen Meyer as Magistrate for the First District of Jessamine County. He was sworn into office on Tuesday, Nov. 19 and attended his first Fiscal Court meeting later that day.

Meyer is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, Gatton School of Business with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management.  He is currently working at Logan Development Group as Principal Consultant. He is the son of former Nicholasville mayor, city commissioner and state representative Russ Meyer, who is currently commissioner of Kentucky State Parks.

Meyer will replace Justin Ray, who resigned from the position in October after being appointed as the deputy judge-executive for Jessamine County after the other magistrates voted to do so.

Ray could not serve as magistrate and deputy judge at the same time, so he had to resign as magistrate of District 1. 

“So I’m still definitely a part of our Fiscal Court, it’s just in a full-time administrative role. I’m under David West in a supporting role to help the Fiscal Court with special projects, or day-to-day activities, administrative duties when Judge West is out of the office. I just won’t be a voting member any longer,” Ray said.

According to Judge-Executive David West, the last time deputy judge-executive the Fiscal Court had was Phyllis Bradshaw, who served around 25 years ago under Judge Executive Niel Cassidy.

The county has a lot going on right now– allocating ARPA funding, collaborating on capital projects with the city, redesigning the county website, and getting projects like the Recreation Community Center off the ground, so to the Fiscal Court officials, it is a good time to bring back the Deputy Judge position.

“It was kind of sad– I mean I worked so hard in 2014 knocking on doors to get to that [magistrate] spot, and I think this is a great opportunity for our county to fill another role. It’s crazy busy– just the workload of the past few weeks. It’s amazing the amount of phone calls that our people get to have somebody who can respond to those concerns, I think [this is] good for the county,” Ray said. 

Ray said the county is working with Nancy Wiser with Wiser Strategies to update the county’s website. He said it’s likely going to be ready by late December. “[The website is] gonna have all the new little bios and photos and frequently asked questions and the forms will be better. It’s supposed to be much more intuitive. So that’ll be a game changer, I think.”

On the rec center, there isn’t a timeline quite yet, but Ray said “People deserve the rec center,” Ray said. “I was born and raised here, and I thought that Lake Mingo was the cat’s meow back then, but to see something like his come to fruition, it’s gonna be so cool. I don’t know when, and I don’t know what it’s gonna cost. But especially for the lost population, I think sometimes adults and seniors get kind of forgotten, but it’s not just about kids. You’ve gotta have somewhere for all people to go… I think it’s gonna be a huge addition and I can’t wait to see it all come to fruition, hopefully sooner rather than later.”