History was made Monday in the Commonwealth of Kentucky as Laurel County Judge-Executive David Westerfield and Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr. were the first in the state to announce that they had merged their emergency management programs.
“I am excited and look forward to this merger, because we feel this is a positive move for both counties. With the current numbers of volunteers dropping in emergency services, this will allow both counties to leverage each other in times of need,” said Westerfield.
White stated, “Whitley County has always been willing to help any of our neighbors and when this was discussed, we feel it is a win, win for both counties. In the past, if one county had a disaster the other helped anyway, and now, this just stream lines the process and can allow resources to assist quicker.”
Through this merger of the two counties, the current Whitley County Emergency Management Director Jerry L. Rains will become the Laurel/Whitley County Emergency Management Director.
Rains got his start in emergency services volunteering with the Williamsburg-Whitley County Rescue Squad where he served for 12 years rising to the rank of captain before taking a position with Kentucky Emergency Management as a regional director over 12 counties in 2002.
After retiring from Kentucky Emergency Management in July 2023 after 21 years of service, Rains was appointed as the Whitley County Emergency Management Director last December.
During his career with Kentucky Emergency Management, Rains had several deployments out of state to work in state emergency operation centers or county emergency operation centers. He also deployed to numerous disasters across the state, including in 2021 for the tornados in western Kentucky and in 2022 for the historic flooding in eastern Kentucky.
“I am humbled and honored to have this opportunity and grateful for the faith and trust Judge Westerfield and Judge White have placed in me. I look forward to the challenge and being able to help support both counties and progress the program,” Rains said.
