County Judge-Executive Mickey Garner said local attorney Jeff Hoover has taken over the defense of several county officials named in a lawsuit recently.

Garner called on County Attorney Mark McGaha to address why he was not representing the county's employees in the case.

The suit is over the disputed "moist" election in the county last November. McGaha had filed suit to limit the election in October.

He said at Monday night's court meeting that a good portion of the lawsuit filed in December followed the legal points he'd raised to the election.

McGaha said that he was asking the county officials and workers to waive any conflict of interest issues and he added that he would not be contradicting his original position in the previous case to defend the county officials and staff in this suit.

Garner said they had already employed Hoover for this case, adding that the Kentucky Association of Counties was refusing to defend the county, its officials or workers in this case.

Magistrate Gary Robertson asked if anyone in McGaha's office could handle the case, or at least assist in order to save the county money.

McGaha responded that they would have the same conflict issues as he would in the case.

Magistrate Steve Bledsoe commented that it was not right that the court, and thereby the taxpayers, would have to foot the bill for a legal case that had nothing to do with actions by the fiscal court.

No action was taken on the previously proposed ordinances relating to the sale of alcoholic beverages in restaurants. Garner said the lawyers for the commonwealth's Alcoholic Beverage Commission had said they would be taking no action until the lawsuit was resolved.

That discussion had been set for this meeting in order to beat a deadline for the county to put taxes in place on such sales. Garner had stressed in December that if such actions were not taken by the end of January the county would miss out on ever collecting such taxes. He said at this meeting he has been told otherwise by the ABC lawyers because of the lawsuit.