Kerry Kenady was recently selected by Governor Ernie Fletcher to fill the vacant position of First District Magistrate for Logan County.
Kenady is a registered Republican and is the owner/operator of the Trading Post located off the ally beside Crabtree in Russellville.
He is a certified engineer and served General Electric for 23 years. He says he is looking forward to serving the community and wants his district as well as the whole county to know he will be working hard to represent them.
Kenady was sworn in at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 6 at the Logan County Court House by Circuit Judge Tyler Gill. He will be replacing the position once filled by Starling Murphy (D) who passed away last month.
Kenady was raised in Logan County and is a 1955 graduate of Russellville High School where he played football, basketball and baseball.
He attended the University of Kentucky on an academic scholarship and received his Masters degree in physics and mathematics from Western Kentucky University. He left Logan County to pursue a career but came back to be closer to his parents when they became older. Kenady lost both of his parents last year within four weeks of each other. They had been married 74 years. Kenady and his wife, Karen have four children and one grandchild.
Logan County Judge/Executive Logan Chick said even though he is surprised the governor did not offer the position to Murphy's wife, Judy, he felt that Kenady would be a good addition to the court bringing with him added experience.
Judy Murphy was approached by the Democratic Committee to apply for the seat after her husband's death. Murphy said she is not disappointed in Kenady's appointment.
“I think he will do a good job,” she said. “My only interest was that someone be appointed who will do what is best for the county.”
Chick said he has a great deal of respect for Kenady.
“I have known Kerry for several years and I knew his father before him,” Chick said. “I think Kerry will be an asset to the court. He has a lot of knowledge being a certified engineer and having worked in some very large companies. I feel he will be a good man to work with.”
Kenady moved to Logan County with his family in 1954 when his father, Harold, took the position as the Farm Bureau Director. His father was in the real estate business and built the Kenady Subdivision on Hwy. 79.
Kenady said he wants to dedicate a large amount of his time to being a magistrate so he is planning on closing the Trading Post. He said it has been more of a hobby for him, but now he wants to free himself up to be able to pay the office his full attention.
Although Kenady hasn't been elected into a political position before, he has always been interested in serving the public. He is the vice president for the Rotary Club where he has been a member for a number of years.
“I was approached out of the blue by several people who I respect and asked if I would consider applying for the seat,” said Kenady. “I talked to my wife about it first then agreed.”
Kenady said he believes he may have gotten the appointment because of a Republican governor but he wanted the community to know he would not be making any decisions based on political affiliation.
“I just want to serve the people and help anyway I can,” he said.
Kenady will be filling the First District seat until it appears on the ballot in May. He said he is planning on running for the seat then because he feels if he is going to commit to the task he wants to see it through.
Kenady will be sitting on the court at its next scheduled meeting Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 9 a.m. in the Logan County Court House.
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