Governor appoints Leach to fill vacant PVA seat

On Friday, Gov. Andy Beshear officially appointed Arthur Leach as the new Property Valuation Administrator in Ohio County to fill the unexpired term of long-time PVA Jason Chinn.

Chinn retired at the end of July having served in the role since 1999.

Leach, a 2008 graduate of Ohio County High School, was born and raised in Ohio County, in fact about a block from the Courthouse.

He said both sides of his family have deep roots in the community. The love and compassion both his grandfathers had for the community were instilled in Leach from a young age.

“I have always known that Ohio County would be the place I would raise my family,” he said.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University, Leach moved back to Ohio County and ran a small business in Hartford while his wife, Kayla, finished her teaching degree.

In 2020, he found out about an opening at the PVA office.

“Jason was short-handed and felt like I would be a good fit in the office. I didn’t know I would soon find my calling,” Leach said.

Leach took the statewide qualifying examination in early 2021. He said he just wanted to take it as practice so that he would be prepared for whenever Chinn decided to retire. He ended up passing.

This year, Chinn decided he would retire at the end of the year, so Leach decided to run for the office.

Leach said Chinn had some personal reasons come up that lead him to go ahead and retire at the end of July.

Since Leach had passed the exam, he was eligible for the appointment. He is unopposed on the November ballot.

“I have been blessed to work with the best coworkers you could ask for, and also learned from such a knowledgeable PVA like Jason. He has always run the office with professionalism and fairness. Those are two ideas I will always implement in the office.”

He hopes to continue to keep assessments fair and keep the respectful attitude that Chinn always exhibited.

Leach said Jason was great at his job and leaves “big, big shoes to fill.”

As the new PVA, Leach is working on a new website for the office.

“I can’t wait to get that up and rolling,” he said. “I want to bring as much technology and transparency to the office as possible while still catering to those who enjoy our small town-office feel.”