Governmental Law

Sturgill Turner’s attorneys are experienced leaders in providing comprehensive representation to public entities and state and local governments.

Our governmental law attorneys provide a wide range of services to a variety of public entity clients, including colleges and universities, school boards, numerous state agencies, more than 50 cities, sanitation and water districts, utility commissions, several county governments and other quasi-governmental entities and their officials. Several of our attorneys serve as the city attorney for a number of central Kentucky municipalities, and as a result, possess a working knowledge of the issues faced by public entities on a daily basis. 

Our attorneys also have experience representing individuals and organizations in administrative proceedings and rulemaking, investigations and litigation involving agencies of the federal government.

LITIGATION

Sturgill Turner's attorneys regularly represent local governmental and quasi-governmental entities, and their officials, in lawsuits filed in federal and state court, as well as other legal proceedings, including:

• Administrative law practice, including actions, rulemaking and statutory hearings involving governmental agencies such as:
  • Kentucky Board of Claims
  • Kentucky Labor Cabinet
  • Kentucky Horse Racing Commission
  • Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet
  • Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
  • U.S. Department of Labor
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • U.S. Department of Justice

• Statutory civil rights and constitutional law issues, including:
  • Sovereign immunity and qualified official immunity
  • Liberty and property protections
  • Rights of public employees

• Employment-related actions, including:
  • Defense of wrongful discharge claims
  • Wage and hour
  • Employee discipline
  • Retaliation cases, such as whistleblower and worker’s compensation retaliation

• Planning and zoning issues
• All types of discrimination cases involving governmental and quasi-governmental agencies, including alleged discrimination based on:
  • Race
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Disability
  • Nationality
  • Religion
  • Sexual orientation

• Sexual and racial harassment claims
• Workplace torts, including invasion of privacy and defamation

COUNSELING & TRAINING

Sturgill Turner’s governmental law attorneys counsel public entity clients with day-to-day and long-term advice aimed to prevent problems before they occur. Our attorneys provide customized training and advice on matters such as:

• Hiring and termination practices
• Personnel policies, programs and procedures
• Employee disciplinary actions
• Drafting employer/employee handbooks
• Planning and zoning issues
• Educating management and employees on a variety of liability topics
• Kentucky’s open meeting and open records laws
• Kentucky’s model procurement code

ATTORNEYS

CASE STUDIES

Our attorneys’ strong understanding of the complex and various immunities available to public entities and their officials is just one of the many qualities that set us apart in the area of governmental law. Sturgill Turner’s attorneys have successfully argued and advanced the concepts of sovereign immunity and qualified official immunity as applied to both governmental and quasi-governmental entities and their officials. Notable decisions include the adjudication of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Airport Board and the Lexington-Fayette Airport Corporation against Comair in its attack on sovereign immunity, in which the Kentucky Supreme Court adopted our suggested refinement of the Berns test for immunity as applied to county boards and affiliated corporations (Comair, Inc. v. LFUCG Airport Board, et al., 295 S.W.3d 91 Ky. 2009).

Sturgill Turner's governmental law attorneys represented the City of Berea, the mayor of Berea and the police chief of Berea against a suit brought by a former police officer who claimed that his due process rights had been violated by his termination. The Kentucky Court of Appeals held for the City of Berea and its officials, that the Kentucky’s Police Officer Bill of Rights (KRS 15.520) is not applicable to cities in the absence of a “citizen’s complaint.”  The opinion reads: “We agree with the trial court that KRS 15.520 only applies when disciplinary action is taken against a police officer based upon a citizen complaint.” (Note: the decision was 2-1 with a written, dissenting opinion and discretionary review by the Kentucky Supreme Court is possible).