Commonwealth Attorney for Whitley and McCreary counties Ronnie Bowling told members of the Corbin Rotary Club on June 4 that protecting children and holding repeat violent offenders accountable have been his top priorities during his time in office.
Bowling serves as Commonwealth’s Attorney for the state’s 34th Judicial Circuit.
Since taking the position in 2018, Bowling has worked to make the local jurisdiction more involved in legislative efforts and more respected throughout the state.
“I wanted us to have a seat at the table in Frankfort,” said Bowling. “I wanted us to be much more involved and us more involved in legislative change. I wanted us to be respected as a jurisdiction, and I wanted this to be considered a tough-on-crime jurisdiction. I hope that we’ve made strides to achieve that.”
Bowling said he oversees four other prosecutors and personally manages about 100 of the approximately 700 cases handled by the office each year, typically homicides, sexual assaults and crimes against kids.
According to Bowling, his office has secured 10 life sentences in homicide cases and achieved what he described as 100 percent conviction rates in cases involving child victims. He added every person convicted of trafficking methamphetamine, heroin or fentanyl in the jurisdiction has been denied probation and sent to prison.
“In the grand scheme, I think those are the things that keep the community safe,” said Bowling. “We do a lot of rehab, [and] we do a lot of faith-based recovery for drug addicts.”
Bowling also spoke about his work as the president of the Commonwealth Attorneys Association, a role he said has taken him to Frankfort for legislative changes and meetings with lawmakers.
As president, Bowling founded the wellness committee after recognizing the toll difficult cases can take on prosecutors.
“I believed prosecutors across the state were suffering a mental health crisis, and that’s easy to do,” said Bowling. “Providing resources for prosecutors to stay in the game longer because the answer is either they burn themselves out or they turn to the bottle or controlled substances.”
One piece of legislation Bowling said he is proud of is Kimber’s Law, which makes a person eligible for the death penalty in Kentucky if they kill a child 12 years or younger.
He also worked on legislation addressing sentencing loopholes for repeat drug traffickers, as well as House Bill (HB) 5, known as the Safer Kentucky Act. The legislation established enhanced penalties for repeat violent offenders and classified crimes against children as violent offenses, requiring offenders to serve more of their sentences.
“If you harm a child, sexually abuse a child, you abuse a child, you don’t get out on early release or good time,” said Bowling. “You serve your whole sentence.”
Bowling says he remains proud of the work he and his team do for the state.
“I’ve got four years left on this term. I plan on staying here as long as the voters will let me,” said Bowling. “It’s been a fun ride. It’s been the best job I’ve ever had. We’ve helped a lot of good people, and we’ve put a lot of bad people in prison.”
