Allegations Denied

By Tony McVeigh

Frankfort, KY – Kentucky Senator Joey Pendleton of Hopkinsville and Murray State University are rebutting fraud allegations leveled against Pendleton by the state Republican Party. Kentucky Public Radio's Tony McVeigh has the story.

The state Republican Party says, over a two-year period, Senator Pendleton accepted almost 70-thousand dollars in salary from Murray State University while he was in Frankfort taking care of legislative duties. The party wants Murray State reimbursed and the attorney general to investigate. But Catharine Sivills of Murray State says Pendleton was a salaried employee and she knows of no misappropriation. As long as the job was getting done according to his managers, then there was no time frame that he was required necessarily to be here or there.

Pendleton, the Senate Minority Whip, flatly denies any wrongdoing. He says it's just a political attack because he's involved in a re-election campaign against Republican Tom Jones. The attorney general's office acknowledges receiving a request for an investigation and says it will be handled with proper protocol.